“5”

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PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
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3-DAY DGPs/IGPs CONFERENCE BEGINS
HOME MINISTER CALLS FOR CONTINUOUS VIGILANCE ON
TERRORISM

New Delhi: Bhadra 3, 1932

August 25, 2010
The Union Home Minister Sh. P. Chidambaram has said that
the Indian State has been able to stand up to the challenges posed by
forces inimical to India both within and outside the country. He was
inaugurating the 3-day conference on DGPs/IGPs here today. The Home
Minister appealed for continuous efforts for capacity building at the
central as well as State level to counter terrorism. On Jammu and
Kashmir, Shri Chidambaram said that the security forces have been
instructed to act with great restraint. The Centre has offered a dialogue
with all sections of people and all political parties and groups in the state.
Lamenting the killing of innocent civilians by Maoists after naming them
as police informers, the Home Minister said that the Government has
called upon the CPI(Maoist) to abjure violence and come forward for
talks but there has been no direct and credible response to the offer.
Following is the text of the Home Minister’s speech.
“My distinguished colleagues in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Shri
Mullapally Ramachandran and Shri Ajay Maken, Shri Rajiv Mathur, DIB
and Chairman of the Conference, Shri Shivshankar Menon, National
Security Adviser, Shri K.M. Chandrasekhar, Cabinet Secretary, Shri G.K.
Pillai, Home Secretary, Directors General and Inspectors General of
Police of the States and the Union Territories. Chiefs of Central Police
Organisations, other delegates, members of the media, ladies and
gentlemen.
 We last met in September 2009. The past 11 months have been
quite eventful. As always, the tidings are mixed, but more on this later. I
wish to begin by paying tribute to the men and women of the security
forces who have bravely confronted the many challenges to internal
security. Some of them have made the supreme sacrifice. I am certain
that the vast majority of our countrymen and women acknowledge and
salute the work of our security forces. Like any other body of men and
women, the security forces too have their shortcomings, but nothing that
is said or written can take away a jot from the fact that the security forces
are the first line of defence of our democracy and liberty.
It is customary on this occasion to award police medals for
meritorious service to officers of the Intelligence Bureau. I do so with
great pleasure and offer my warm congratulations and good wishes to
those who have received the honour.
Through 2009, and in the first 8 months of 2010, the security
situation was severely challenged by forces inimical to India both within
and outside the country. Contrary to perceptions in a section of the media
– and, consequently, among sections of the people – the Indian State has
been able to stand up to these challenges and face them with confidence
and courage. Here, I must acknowledge the willing cooperation extended
by the State Governments. In my view, the prime mover is always
policy. Experience shows that if there is clarity of purpose and a well-
enunciated policy, the security forces will be able to deliver. For
example, we announced a policy of zero tolerance of cross border
terrorism, and we initiated a number of steps to build capacity, augment
intelligence, raise special forces, acquire modern equipment, impart better
training and take counter-terrorism measures. As a result, save for one
incident, the last 21 months have been remarkably free of any terrorist
attack. The attack on the German Bakery in Pune was indeed a blot. I
sincerely hope that the suspects will be apprehended as soon as possible.
That does not mean that the threat of terrorist attacks has gone
away. I wish to caution you that there is no let up in the attempts to
infiltrate militants into India. There is no let up in the attempts to
radicalise young men and women in India. Besides, there is the recently
uncovered phenomenon of saffron terrorism that has been implicated in
many bomb blasts of the past. My advice to you is that we must remain
ever vigilant and continue to build, at the Central and State levels, our
capacity in counter-terrorism.
Apart from containing terrorism, our best record of achievement has
been in the North Eastern States. While the year 2009 was a distinct
improvement on the year 2008, it is in 2010 that we have seen a dramatic
decline in the number of incidents and in the number of casualties. There
have been only 464 incidents until August 15, 2010, as against 1,297 and
1,561 for the whole year in 2009 and 2008 respectively. Only 52
civilians have been killed, as against 264 and 466 respectively, and we
have lost only 15 men of the security forces. Nevertheless, I must admit
with regret that Manipur and Assam have been affected by long-duration
blockades and bandhs and by intermittent violence.
It is a matter of great satisfaction that a number of groups are
engaged in talks with the Government of India. Among them are NSCN
(IM), NDFB (PT), DHD (Nunisa), DHD (J), UPDS, ANVC, KLNLF,
KNO and UPF. We have appointed two Interlocutors: Shri R.S. Pandey
to talk to the NSCN (IM) and Shri P.C. Haldar to talk to NDFB (PT),
DHD (Nunisa), DHD (J), KLNLF, UPDS and ANVC, besides ULFA. It
is my hope that ULFA will also formally come forward to begin talks
with the Government of India and the Government of Assam. There is no
denying that the success achieved in bringing so many groups to the
negotiating table has contributed immensely to the decline of violence in
the North Eastern States. I would appeal to the groups – or factions of
groups – that have stayed away from talks to give up violence, accept the
offer of the Governments to hold talks, enter into agreements of ceasefire
or suspension of operations, and begin talks with the Governments’
representatives. I am confident that solutions can be found within the
Constitution of India to the demands of various groups for recognition of
their identity, history, culture and desire for self-government. The best
example is the Bodo Territorial Council which has turned out to be a
model of self-governance within the State of Assam and within the
Constitution of India.
I shall now refer to Jammu & Kashmir. As you are aware,
beginning 2005, and with the exception of 2008, the law and order
situation in J&K has been extremely benign, with few incidents and fewer
casualties. Unfortunately, since June this year, there has been an
unexpected turn of events. I am afraid J&K is now caught in a vicious
cycle of stone-pelting, lathicharge, teargasing and firing, leading to
casualties, and resulting in more stone-pelting. The security forces have
been instructed to act with great restraint. The situation has not yet
returned to normal. Nevertheless, amidst serious disturbances, 457,324
yatris completed the Amarnath Yatra, exceeding the number of 392,000
yatris last year. So far, 516,970 tourists have visited J&K, and that
number also exceeds the 355,960 tourists of last year. The Central
Government has acknowledged that a political solution must be found to
the problems of J&K. The Central Government has offered a dialogue
with all sections of the people of J&K and all political parties and groups.
We are concerned that we have not been able to stop the vicious cycle in
which that State is caught. However, it is my hope that, in the next few
days, we would be able to find that elusive ‘starting point’ from where we
could reach out to the protestors, reassure them of their rights and dignity,
restore peace and order, redeem the promises made, and re-start the
process of dialogue that will lead to a solution.
Last year, I dwelt at length on the challenge of Left Wing
Extremism. It is often forgotten that it is the State Governments that have
been, and continue to be, in the forefront of fighting the menace of Left
Wing Extremism. As far as I know, all State Governments are committed
to the two-pronged strategy of development and police action. In
November 2009, we persuaded the States to adopt a coordinated strategy
and we provided more para-military forces to the States. We made it
clear that it would take several years before we were able to contain the
CPI (Maoist) and roll back their offensive. I think the people of India
understand – even if the critics do not – that the conflict will be a long-
drawn one, that patience is the key, that mistakes will be made, and that
the security forces need material and moral support to carry out their
tasks. In the last 10 months, despite setbacks in Gadchiroli, Silda,
Tadmetla and Chingavaram, the security forces have been able to re-
assert the control of the State in several affected districts. While the loss
of every life is a matter of grief and regret, nothing is more painful than
the killing of innocent civilians after naming them as ‘police informers’.
This year alone, so far, 424 civilians have been killed and, of these, 192
were killed after being named ‘police informers’. Who shares the grief of
their families, who speaks up against their killings? We have called upon
the CPI (Maoist) to abjure violence and come for talks. I regret to say
that there has been no direct and credible response to our offer of talks.
There are other concerns too. One of our principal concerns is the
maintenance of communal peace and harmony. I am particularly
dismayed by the fact that petty disputes and imagined slights trigger
conflicts between communities and groups. The Scheduled Castes are
especially vulnerable. While it is a matter of satisfaction that there has
been no major outbreak of communal or caste violence in the last 12
months, I would urge you to remain vigilant. At the first sign of
communal or caste violence, you should depute senior officers to deal
with the situation firmly and without fear or favour.
We are always mindful of the fact that ‘police’ and ‘law and order’
are State subjects and the primary responsibility rests with the State
Governments. At the same time, we recognise the responsibility of the
Central Government to provide resources, intelligence, training facilities
and para-military forces to the State Governments. We have found that
the Conference of Chief Ministers is a useful mechanism to deliberate
and decide upon matters relating to internal security. Since we last met,
we have held two meetings, one with all Chief Ministers on February 7,
2010 and the other with Chief Ministers of LWE affected States on July
14, 2010. Many of you were present at those meetings. You will agree
with me that the humongous task of building capacity to deal with the
challenges to internal security can be described, at best, as ‘work in
progress’.
Let me share with you what we have done in the Central
Government in the last 12 months:
• The allocation for internal security in 2008-09 was
Rs.25,923 crore. In 2009-10, it rose to Rs. 38,114 crore
(RE) and in 2010-11, after the first supplementary, it stands
at Rs.40,582 crore.

• The two schemes of Modernisation of Police Force for the

States and for the CPMFs have been extended to 2010-11.
• We have sanctioned the raising of an additional 38
Battalions in the CRPF, 29 Battalions in the BSF, 32
Battalions in the SSB, and 14,259 personnel in the CISF.

• We have raised the level of support to the State

Governments affected by Left Wing Extremism and, in the
meeting on July 14, 2010, we obtained the concurrence of
the Chief Ministers concerned to a new plan that includes
creation of an Unified Command in 4 States; provision of
helicopters for logistics support; establishment or
strengthening of 400 police stations; appointment of
additional SPOs; and implementation of an Integrated
Action Plan with emphasis on road connectivity, primary
education, primary health care and drinking water in the
affected districts.

• The hardware and software to connect the S-MACs in the

State capitals to the State Special Branches are in place.
The connectivity will be completed by December 31, 2010.

• We have augmented the training facilities for security

forces. Work has begun on the third and fourth regional
institutes of the IB to be located in Jodhpur and Delhi. We
have decided to set up one Central Academy for Police
Training (CAPT) at Bhopal, two Central Detective Training
Schools (CDTS) at Lucknow and Ahmedabad and 20
Counter Insurgency and Anti-Terrorist (CIAT) Schools of
which 3 are operational and 12 more are likely to become
operational in the current year.

• We have drawn up Phase II of the Coastal Security Scheme

and intend to implement it with effect from November 1,
2010.
 • We have received the final report of the consultants on
modernising and upgrading the forensic science system and
we have initiated the process of implementing the key
recommendations.

• The review of State cadres of the IPS has been completed

and the sanctioned strength has been increased from 4013
on 1.1.2010 to 4730 at the end of the review.

• We have made it mandatory for every IPS officer to

undergo a course of training at three levels in his/her career
at the SVP National Police Academy.

As I said, modernising the police forces and building capacity is

‘work in progress’. Having listed the key measures that we have taken, I
think I am entitled to ask you about the steps that you have taken since
the last meeting. You will recall that at the last meeting I had raised some
questions that were considered, at that time, quite provocative. On
reflection, most people agreed that those questions deserved to be raised
and deserved to be answered. Therefore, I hope you will tell us whether
you have succeeded in ensuring that every police officer, appointed to a
post, has a reasonable tenure in that post. I hope you will also tell us
whether your Governments have increased, in real terms, the allocation
under the head ‘Police’. Moreover, do you think that you have been
delegated adequate financial powers to spend the money allocated to your
department? Should we try to put in place a system for transfer of funds
under the MPF Scheme directly to the DGP of the State? Is your State
making the required 25 per cent contribution to the MPF Scheme?
At the end of the Conference of Chief Ministers on February 7,
2010, I had suggested that the States set for themselves the target of
recruiting another 150,000 police personnel by the end of September,
2010 and I hope you would be able to tell us how close you are to
achieving that goal. We also recommended that States adopt the
Transparent Recruitment Process (TRP) and I hope you will tell us
whether you have done so. CCTNS is an important project that will
enhance the efficiency of policing in your States. I hope you would tell us
the progress you have made and the difficulties, if any, you face. And
finally I hope you would be able to tell us what steps have been taken in
your States to enact a new Police Act based on the model Bill that was
circulated to the States and what steps have been taken to set up the State
Police Establishment Board and the Police Complaints Board.
In conclusion, let me take this opportunity to assure the people of
India that the Governments and the police forces of India welcome
criticism. At the same time, I want to tell you, on behalf of the people,
that when faced with a threat or a crisis or a tragedy, everyone – and I
mean everyone – turns to the police. Imagine a town or a district without
a police force; imagine a State ravaged by Left Wing Extremism without
special forces venturing into the jungles; or imagine Manipur or Assam
without security forces confronting armed militant groups. Whatever the
critics may say, there is no substitute for an efficient and effective police
force. It is your duty to raise and lead such a force. In fact, each one of
you assembled here should consider it an honour to be able to head such a
force. The force under you may not yet be the ideal one, but as long as
you head that force you should work untiringly to make it a force that is
admired and respected by the people of your State.
I have great pleasure in inaugurating the Conference of Directors
General and Inspectors General of Police
Thank you”.

Earlier, the Home Minister gave away police medals for meritorious
service to officers of Intelligence Bureau. The conference will be
addressed by the Prime Minister tomorrow.
OK/KKA