Assam CM bats for smart policing to tackle any situation in a jiffy

NEW DELHI- ‘Smart policing is the need of the hour to handle new age of organisational and conventional crime.’   This was said by Chief Minister of Assam, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma in course of a video conferencing with the top brass of the Assam Police, including the DGP and the Principal Secretary, Home and Political, at the Assam House here on Thursday.

For realisation of the smart policing vision, the Chief Minister strongly advocated for removing the ‘dead wood’ from the police force – habitual drinkers, those with extreme obesity and with charges of corruption against them – to turn the force into a responsive and action oriented one.

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“A robust and resilient force is the need of the hour with high state of fitness (with proper intake of diet and regular exercise) that can reach scene of crime in a jiffy and combat the situation,” he quipped.

DGP, Assam, GP Singh apprised the Chief Minister that the process is on to give VRS to around 250 police personnel who are no longer fit to be in the force.

The Chief Minister advised police personnel to be pro-active and people oriented with smart policing. He suggested the police force to focus on a swift and pragmatic approach while dealing with crimes vis-a-vis registering cases and bringing them to logical conclusions. “Every complaint must be registered and inquired into.

“Smart policing is for the betterment of the existing police system. We need a police force which is strict and sensitive, modern and mobile, alert and accountable, reliable and responsive; techno-savvy and trained to tackle any kind of internal security problems they may be confronted with,” he stressed.

The concept of smart policing was introduced by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during the 49th annual conference of Directors-General and Inspectors-General in 2014.

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The Chief Minister underscored the need to take effective measures to enhance capabilities of the state police in every district and the need for the battalions in the district or nearby to work in tandem with the police force to deal with emerging challenges effectively.

In order to push forward this idea, among other vital things relating to internal security, Chief Minister Sarma will hold a meeting with the commandants of battalions at Dergaon in Upper Assam on May 18.

Referring to the daunting challenges posed by cyber age, Sarma stressed the need to train police personnel down to the OCs across the state to tackle cyber crimes. Policing should be people-centric and police stations should be public-friendly.

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Expressing concern over the instances of sexual assaults and crimes against women, the Chief Minister called for adopting the best practices in the country to ensure the safety of women. “The best practices as that of Kolkata and other cities must be adopted to make our towns and cities safer for women,” he said, adding, “The police needs to be sensitised about the need to act swiftly and firmly and ensure that crimes against women are brought to logical conclusions.”

The Chief Minister asked the police top brass to ensure there is no let up in the war against drugs in order to free the state from the menace.

Sarma asked Singh to look after the police bands and martial music as it ‘brings out the best in a person and inspires the forces, invokes patriotism and commitment towards protection of the nation’.

Ever since assumption of office as Chief Minister in May 2021, Dr.Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also holds the home portfolio, has convened four SPs level conference, with the fifth conference slated to be held at Bongaigaon in the second or third week of June.