At last there is a movement in the right direction and a positive agenda is being set by the Government of India. Outlining the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government’s ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ agenda, President Pranab Mukherjee last month addressed the Joint Session of Parliament.
He said – “that the government will maintain utmost vigil in the area of internal security. A policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism, extremism, riots and crime will be pursued. The States will be assisted for modernizing police infrastructure and equipment to tackle new forms of terrorism including narco-terrorism and cyber threats. A national plan will be chalked out in consultation with the state governments to effectively curb incidents of communal violence and the challenges posed by left wing extremism. My government will take steps to equip the security forces with the latest technology and to improve their working conditions”. The President also referred to skill development.
A powerful message for the private security industry emanates from the government’s intent and the President’s speech. Very clearly the government has outlined its intention to ensure a crime free and safe India and we all know that that this cannot happen without the help of the private security industry, since the current government resources are inadequate to tackle the increasing incidences of crime.
The private security industry needs to apprise Mr. Modi and his team of the problems faced by the industry. A representation needs to be sent to Mr. Modi’s team urgently, and it has to be explained to them that what can help the industry is sure to help the country’s security scenario. Mr. Modi’s team is likely to lend a keen ear to this, since they all have spoken of the need for strong internal security.
The industry needs to show unity in attempting this. Multiple organisations and factions claim to be the representatives of the industry. The industry needs to recognise a single individual as its leader and utilise his services. Last month, in these columns, I wrote about Mr. RK Sinha’s elevation to the upper house as a Parliamentarian. He would be an ideal leader of the industry and an excellent bridge between government and industry.
Significantly, two days before Mr. Modi spoke in Parliament, a team of Delhi Police officers left for Surat in Gujarat to study how the safe city project was initiated and brought to its logical conclusion there. Effectively, the Gujarat model is expected to be the way of things to come, at least as far as security is concerned. Senior Delhi Police officers have said that they have found clarity in the safe city project in Surat and hoped to utilise what they have learnt there to promote a similar project in the Capital. I’m also sure that Mr. Modi will eventually take a deeper look at why the Mumbai CCTV project is still lost in files after so many years.
Our topic for the month is also safe cities and what is preventing these projects from seeing the light of the day. We have attempted to cover this problem from several angles and we hope that you find this to be interesting and informative.
Till we meet next month, Cheers and Happy Reading!
G B Singh
Email: editor@securitytoday.in
Follow me on @EditorGB
Connect with me on Linkedin
