PM Modi pitches for qualitative change in police

HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pitched for qualitative change in police through better training while underlining the importance of technology and human interface for the force to keep progressing.

Addressing the annual conference of state police chiefs here, he pressed for development of soft skills in training and advocated that human psychology and behavioural psychology should be vital parts of training.

He also launched a mobile app - 'Indian Police at Your Call' and presented President's Police Medals for Distinguished Service to officers of the Intelligence Bureau.

The Prime Minister "called for a qualitative change in the police force through a collective training effort," a PMO statement said.

He said that technology and human interface are both important for the police force to keep progressing, it added.

On training, the Prime Minister said the development of soft skills is now essential, and should become a part of the training drill, the statement said.

Aspects such as human psychology and behavioural psychology should be vital parts of training, he added in his address to DGsP/IGsP at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy.

Modi said leadership skills are important, and the onus lies on senior officers to inculcate these skills in the police personnel, it added.

On the subject of law and order, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of foot patrolling and constabulary Intelligence, the statement said.

Modi noted that today is November 26, the day that a deadly terror attack had struck Mumbai, and police had bravely fought against terrorists. He also recalled the over 33,000 police personnel who have attained martyrdom.

The Prime Minister said that the annual conference of police chiefs has now undergone a transformation in the way it is conducted.

It has become a platform for sharing experiences, which leads to good inputs for policy planning, he said.

Modi laid emphasis on concrete outcomes out of the actionable points that have been finalised.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister laid a wreath at the Martyrs Column at the National Police Academy. He also offered floral tributes at the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and planted a sapling.