PM repeats offer of talks with Naxalites if they abjure violence

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today repeated his Independence Day offer of talks to the Naxalites, provided they abjured the path of violence, and reiterated the Government's commitment to make special efforts to develop the areas affected by Naxal violence.

"I would ... like to repeat what I said in my speech on Independence Day. We recognize that the Naxalites are our own people and are ready to talk to them provided they abjure the path of violence," Dr Singh said in his address to the Annual Conference of Directors General of Police (DGPs) and Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) here.

"We also stand committed to making special efforts to develop the areas affected by naxal violence, many of which are inhabitated predominantly by our tribal brothers and sisters," he said.

The three-day conference, organised by the Intelligence Bureau, was inaugurated yesterday by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram yesterday.

Dr Singh said that, after a relative lull in 2009, the challenges to internal security seemed to have re-emerged in more virulent forms. While there had been good progress in terms of recruitement and setting up of better institutional arrangements for intelligence, investigation, coastal security and counter-terrorism, the problems the country faced remained daunting, he said.

"We need to do much more to meet the challenge of Naxalism. Training of our officers and men engaged in this theatre should particularly engage your systematic attention," he told the conference.

Dr Singh paid tribute to the officers and men of the security forces who had made the supreme sacrifice in fighting Naxalism and other anti-social elements.

On the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he said that, despite the curtailment of militant activities, the public order dimension in the State had become a cause for serious concern.

"We need to revisit standard operating procedures and crowd control measures to deal with public agitations with non-lethal, yet effective and more focused measures. We also cannot have an approach of one size fits all. For instance, I understand that instead of a single standard sequence for the use of force, other countries have put in place procedures that vary according to the specific needs in different situation," he said.

Dr Singh said that, similarly, the experience begun successfully by the Rapid Action Force for non-lethal crowd control needed to be examined for being followed by other police forces as well.

He requested the Home Minister to establish a high-power task force to come out with a set of recommendations on these issues in the next two or three months.

The Prime Minister said that the situation in the North-East was, in general, better today than it was in the recent past, but some areas of concern still remained.

He said that, in Manipur, for example, the Naga-Metei divide had accentuated. The unfortunate growth of identity-based assertiveness in the North East, particularly in Manipur and the North Cachar Hills, needs well thought-out and sensitive handling, he stressed.

He said that, in other areas of the North-East, there was need to consolidate the gains of the past while at the same time ensuring that new problems did not arise and could be controlled when they did.

He said that the Darjeeling hill area also needed a careful watch. The writ of the State should be firmly established in all these areas, he said, stressing that the State police and the central paramilitary forces should take firm action against those who take the law into their own hands.

The Prime Minister also called for continuous vigilance against the rise of communal tensions.

He said the conference was a valuable opportunity to enhance understanding of matters relating to internal security and to build a consensus on the new strategies that could be devised to meet the challenges facing the nation.

Dr Singh said policing in the country had become increasingly complex over the years. He said social tensions, religious disputes, growing economic disparities and regional, linguistic and ethnic differences had long been major challenges to effective policing in India.

"But of late the growing presence of non-state actors, fundamentalist groups and left-wing extremists has further complicated matters. The growing inter-linkages of the destabilizing and criminal forces, across states and across our borders, call for far greater vigilance and coordination between the security agencies than ever before," he observed.

He said the Government had, over the past decade, institutionalized deliberations and structured interactions at various levels.

"This conference has been a time-tested mechanism for enhanced coordination but given the changing circumstances I believe the time has perhaps come for it to reinvent itself. Perhaps this year onwards you could set for yourself some quantifiable goals to be achieved in the coming year. The actual achievement against these goals could be reviewed in the subsequent conference," he said.

Dr Singh also felt the conference should pursue its agenda of making available the considered professional consensus on important police matters in a more focussed manner.

In this context, he repeated an earlier suggestion of a Standing Committee of DGPs to provide policy inputs and hoped that it would begin work in right earnest.

The Prime Minister said modern means of communications had enabled adversarial forces to mount powerful and convincing propaganda.

"Our response to this development needs to be improved. We have to challenge disinformation, often masquerading as objective third party expert opinion, not through suppression or in position of censorship, but by ensuring the availability of better and informed opinion to public at large," he said.

He said that, over the past decade, the Central Government had sought to assist states in addressing their manpower requirements through financial support for India Reserve battalions, Special Police Officers, and the setting up of village defence committees.

"But, it appears that recruitment to the regular State police forces has not yet picked up as effectively as it should. Although effort has been made in the last two years to address this issue, the backlog remains pretty large. The quality of recruitment also remains an area of concern. The Ministry of Home Affairs has already circulated a template for a transparent and objective recruitment process but most States are yet to adopt this," he said.

He pointed out that, within the police forces, the current system of promotion was based essentially on seniority. He said this needed to be suitably recalibrated to catalyse better performance and motivation. For example, a successful stint in an extremism-affected district, should result in greater career benefits to the officers, he suggested.

Dr Singh said procurement of equipment was another area where speed and quality remained areas of concern. He said there was, perhaps, a need to take a re-look at procurement procedures and examine ways of creating adequate testing capacities, coupled with databases of certified equipment, empanelled suppliers and benchmark prices. This if acted upon will save a lot of time and effort in procurement, he said.

He expressed happiness that both the Central and State Governments had taken steps to ensure greater inclusiveness in the police forces. The extent of reservation for appointment in Central paramilitary forces for candidates from areas affected by insurgency, militancy and Naxalism was increased from 20% to 40% five years back. A number of States have also raised battalions from such areas.

"I think we need to take this further. This will reduce the feeling of alienation that might exist among the population in certain parts of our country," he said.

Dr Singh also spoke about the need to build up capacities for gathering intelligence in various Indian languages. The intelligence agencies of the Centre and States could draw upon police persons and also incentivize officers to acquire and use relevant local language skills, he said.

He said there was need for significant improvement in training of policemen and officers.

"The best officers are not posted to the police training institutes. The Thirteenth Finance Commission has provided significant funds to augment their training capabilities. These need to be utilized expeditiously. Only a highly trained and highly motivated police force can rise to the formidable internal security challenges that face the country," he added.

NNN