Expansion of Central Police Forces indicative of inadequacies in State Police, says Chidambaram

Press Information Bureau Government of India ***** Expansion of Central Police Forces indicative of inadequacies in State Police, says Chidambaram     New Delhi : October 27, 2009   The Union Home Minister Shri P. Chidambaram has said that massive expansion of Central Para-Military Forces is indicative of inadequacies of State Police. He was speaking here yesterday at a meeting of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs. The topic of the discussion was "National Police Mission". The Home Minister said that the strength of Central Para-Military Forces is above 8 lakhs. Pointing out that a large number of vacancies exist in state police at lower as well as higher levels , Shri Chidambaram said that the police-population ratio in the country is much lower than the desired level of 220 and there is also wide variation among the States. He also drew the attention to other problems like outdated equipment and lack of training. He said that inadequacies of police in the States and their over-dependence on the Central Para- Military Forces is not a good sign for the federal structure. The States are now realizing the gravity of the situation and concentrating on recruitment, training and modernization of their police forces. Shri Chidambaram stated that policing in the country has long been neglected and urgent reforms are needed in the state police system.   The Union Home Minister informed the meeting that four projects submitted by the Micro Missions, set up under the National Police Mission have been approved for implementation throughout the country. These are :- (1) Community Counselling Centres, which will aim at facilitating an integrated approach towards resolution of conflicts, affecting women, children and other vulnerable sections of the society; (2) Soft Skill Training Module for police personnel for improving the attitude and behavior of police personnel to make them citizen-friendly and service- oriented; (3) Transparent Recruitment Process for ensuring fair, impartial, transparent, objective, tamper-proof, scientific and merit-based recruitment process and (4) Dial 100, which aims at providing prompt and effective incident response management system.   Stating that these projects are to be rolled out throughout the country, the Home Minister sought co-operation of the members in persuading the State Governments to implement them. He said that all political parties have to join hands in reinventing the police force in the country.   Participating in the discussion, the members welcomed the projects approved by the Centre and expressed hope that these would contribute significantly to improving the policing in the country. They also stressed the need to equip the police force with modern weapons and impart them the necessary training to take up the challenges of the 21st Century. Members stressed the need to ensure provision of basic amenities including housing to all policemen in the country, establish cordial relations between policemen and the community, prescribe higher qualifications for recruitment of constables and remove political interference in the working of the police.   The members who attended the meeting included Dr. K. Malaisamy, Dr. K. Keshava Rao, S/Shri Mahmood A. Madani, Raj Mohinder Singh Majitha, Rishang Keishing and Mohd. Ali Khan from the Rajya Sabha and Dr. Thokchom Meinya, Dr. Monazir Hassan, Dr. Rattan Singh Ajnala and S/Shri Khagen Das, S. Alagiri, D.B. Chandre Gowda, Yogi Adityanath, Kalyan Banerjee, M. Venugopala Reddy, J.P. Aggarwal, Sheesh Ram Ola, Ismail Hussain and Mahabal Mishra from the Lok Sabha. Ministers of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Shri Mullappally Ramachandran and Shri Ajay Maken, Union Home Secretary, Secretary Border Management and Director General of Bureau of Police Research & Development were also among those present at the meeting.   OK/RS/KS/spandey        PIB Kolkata