FICCI SMART Policing awards recognizes islands of excellence across the country: Prakash Singh, Chairman, Indian Police Foundation

New Delhi: Mr Prakash Singh, Chairman, Indian Police Foundation, and Former DG BSF, DGP UP & Assam today said that the industry has been playing its role in not only promoting good practises of the police but feeding the cause of police reforms.

Addressing the FICCI SMART Policing Awards 2020, Mr Singh said, “What is really required in this context is that some of these changes get institutionalised. A mechanism should be developed to make these changes permanent and get the schemes replicated in other parts of the country,” he said.

Mr Singh further noted that multipronged attempts to bring about improvements in police will go a long way in improving the public perception of the police force. “When we talk of general improvement in police, it goes much ahead of the Supreme Court mandated reforms. We need to pool in our resources and have an apex body to pursue specific agenda. I have always had a robust optimism about the future of Indian police. There are areas where we will continue to improve and that will bring about a change in public perception towards the police,” he added.

During the pandemic, said Mr Singh, popularity of the Indian police took a quantum jump. “Even the Hon’ble Prime Minister recognised the efforts of the police and spoke about the sensitive side of police force during the pandemic. Every police officer went out of his way and call of duty to extend humanitarian services to people in distress,” he said.

Speaking about the FICCI SMART Policing awards, Mr Singh said that we have several islands of excellence in different parts of the country and FICCI acknowledging those initiatives is encouraging for the Internal Security Forces. “The police across the country are alive and sensitive to the needs of improved policing and everyone is contributing in their own way,” he said.

The FICCI Compendium on Best Practices in SMART Policing 2020 was released at the event today.

Mr GK Pillai, Advisor, FICCI Homeland Security Committee & Former Union Home Secretary, Government of India said that the police force needs to be appreciated for the extent of work they do. “The wide range of award categories, from anti- insurgency to child safety, crime investigation and prosecution to cybercrime management, as well as disaster response management, elderly care, human trafficking, among others, give us an idea of the nature of jobs of the police officers. There is a tremendous amount of initiative shown by the officers at the local and state-level,” he said. Mr Pillai added that the compendium released today is a compilation of the best practises that can be adapted in other regions as well.

Mr Rahul Chaudhry, Chair, FICCI Homeland Security Committee Principal & CMD, GTM Consulting said that the FICCI SMART Policing Awards recognises the police force as frontline warriors and is about sharing best practices.

Mr Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI said that we have trust and confidence on the police force and together we want to work with the police force across the country to enhance this trust and confidence. Mr Chenoy further added that internal security is all about risk perception and risk management. “We are a market economy, and we are trying to attract people from all over the world. We have found that the state of law and order is directly proportional to the investments in a particular state or city,” he added.

He also noted that security is a big business opportunity. Private sector around the world can benefit and contribute towards it. “India has the opportunity to be a leader in this space globally,” he further added.

Mr Chenoy, on behalf of FICCI, the industry, and their families, thanked the members and families of the police force across the country for their dedicated service during the last year.

The jury for the SMART Policing Awards comprised of Mr GK Pillai, Advisor, FICCI Homeland Security Committee & Former Union Home Secretary, Govt of India; Ms Manjari Jaruhar, Advisor, FICCI Committee on Private Security Industry and Former Special DG, CISF, Govt of India; Mr Alok Bansal, Director, India Foundation; and Dr Sushma Yadav, Professor of Public Policy & Governance, Indian Institute of Public Administration.

The Compendium of Best Practices in SMART Policing is attached for your reference.

List of Awardees: