Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday inaugurated the three-day 60th Directors General and Inspectors General of Police (DGsP/IGsP) Conference in Raipur.
In his address, the Home Minister said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the DGsP/IGsP Conference has evolved into a major platform for resolving the country’s internal security challenges — from identifying threats to formulating strategies and policy responses.
Shah said that the government has taken concrete steps to eliminate Naxalism and expressed confidence that the country will be completely free from the menace before the next DGsP/IGsP Conference. He stated that in the last seven years, the security grid has been significantly strengthened, including the construction of 586 fortified police stations. As a result, the number of Naxal-affected districts has reduced from 126 in 2014 to 11.
The Home Minister said that the government has worked to provide lasting solutions to what had been three persistent hotspots for four decades — Naxalism, the Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir — and added that these regions will soon be at par with the rest of the country in terms of peace and development.
He said the Centre has strengthened the National Investigation Agency (NIA), made the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) more robust, introduced three new criminal laws, and enacted stronger laws related to narcotics and fugitive offenders. Once the new criminal laws are fully implemented, he said, policing in India will become among the most modern globally.
Reviewing counter-terror and counter-radicalisation measures, Shah recalled that the nationwide action against the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and subsequent arrests demonstrated exemplary Centre-State coordination. He said that security forces are focusing on accuracy of intelligence, clarity of objectives and synergy in action to counter extremism, radicalisation and narcotics.
Calling for a “360-degree offensive” against narcotics and organised crime, the Home Minister said a system must be created where drug traffickers and organised crime networks do not get even “an inch of space” in the country. He said the time has come for state police forces to work closely with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to break narcotics syndicates operating at state, national and international levels and bring their masterminds to justice.
The three-day DGsP/IGsP Conference will discuss national security priorities including cybercrime, border management, terrorism, prison reforms, left-wing extremism, coastal security, emerging technologies and strengthening coordination between central and state agencies.