Home Ministry approves top police officials conference to be held at 'Statue of Unity'

This year's annual conference of directors general and inspectors general of police will be held at the site of the 182-metre statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat, officials said Wednesday.

The 'Statue of Unity' of Patel, the tallest in the world, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the state's Narmada district.

Taller than the Statue of Liberty in the US, it has been built on islet Sadhu Bet near the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

The officials said though the final dates for the three-day conference of directors general and inspectors general of police from all state and central forces have not been decided, the Union Home Ministry has given an 'in-principle' approval for the event to be held at this venue.

The conference is expected to be organised in the second half of December after the results of the five poll-bound states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram-- are declared on the 11th of that month.

The Sardar Patel 'Statute of Unity' has been chosen as the venue as the alma mater of the top police leadership of the country, the Indian Police Service (IPS), has a close association with the leader as their training academy in Hyderabad is named after him, they said.

The IPS academy is named Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel National Police Academy.

Patel was country's first home minister and the Home Ministry is the cadre controlling authority of the IPS.

Officials said the directors general and inspectors general will be hosted in the 'tent village' that has been set up near the statue in Kevadiya village.

The conference is an annual affair where senior police officials of the states and the Centre meet and discuss issues related to internal security, crimes and related challenges.

The Modi government has been organising this meeting outside the national capital since it came to power in 2014.

The last four such conferences have been held in Guwahati, Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, Hyderabad and Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district.

"The agenda and various issues for discussion during the conference are under preparation," a senior official said.

The 'Statue of Unity' was first conceptualised by Modi during his tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister and he had laid the foundation stone for it in 2013.

Wednesday's ceremony coincided with the 143rd birth anniversary of Patel, also known as the 'Ironman of India'.

Patel, India's first deputy prime minister, is also credited with merging of over 500 princely states into the Union of India.

(With inputs from agencies.)