Terrorism enemy of humanity: Vice Prez Naidu

Describing terrorism as "enemy of humanity", Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday cautioned against any complacency in the safety and security of the country. Addressing a seminar on SMART Policing, Naidu also voiced concern over instances of sexual assaults, crimes against women and minor children and called for stepping up of security measures to ensure their safety.

Observing that the country was facing problems such as terrorism, Maoism and insurgency, the vice-president said "ballot was more powerful than the bullet". Cautioning against the complacency in face of the country facing the menace of terrorism, Naidu called for effective measures to enhance capabilities of the state police and Central Armed Police Forces to deal with it.

"Stable law and order ensured by motivated and committed police would provide necessary foundations for sustained economic progress of the country," he said at the seminar organised jointly by the Indian Police Foundation, the National Centre for Good Governance and the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). The vice-president stressed the need to make policing people-centric and police stations people-friendly and receptive.

He suggested internal reforms within the police force along with the improvement of ambiance in police stations to make them complainant-friendly. Pointing out that police station is the first point of contact for people, he said the common man should feel confident that the police personnel were competent to redress his grievance.

"At present, you would agree, a complainant enters the police station with serious misgivings whether his or her report would be registered or what kind of treatment would he get," he said. Naidu suggested the police should focus on swift and objective approach to dealing with cases rather than bothering about the increase in crime figures.

He said every complaint must be registered and enquired into. "We have been talking for many years to make police stations people-friendly. Unfortunately, that is not happening. Unless senior officers take lead in changing the atmosphere in police stations, I am afraid that things might not improve," he said.

Referring to the daunting challenges posed by cyber age, the vice-president stressed the need to train police forces across the country to tackle cyber crimes. At the same time, he said, there is an enormous scope to tap IT potential in the fields of police governance, investigation, safety and security management as well as citizen-centric policing.

Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of smart policing, Naidu asked the force to think of innovative approach to deal with the VIP security and in regulating traffic during the VVIPs' movements. Voicing concern over the crime against women and children, the vice president also asked police to be sensitive to victims' sufferings and stressed upon the need to act firmly and ensure that the culprits were brought to book at the earliest.

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