Meenakshi Lekhi, MP and BJP National Spokesperson, felicitates winners of FICCI SMART Policing Awards 2017

‘Need for enhancing human interface and encouraging interactive policing; police should adopt business-like approach’
NEW DELHI, 25 May 2017: Ms.Meenakshi Lekhi, MP and National Spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party,today felicitated the winners of FICCI SMART Policing Awards 2017 on the second day of Homeland Security conference. She also commended the Jury Members of FICCI SMART Policing Awards, Mr.G.K.Pillai, Mr.K.M.Singh, Ms.Manjari Jaruhar, Mr.Alok Bansal and Dr.Sushma Yadav. The conference was organized by FICCI in association with Vivekananda International Foundation on the theme ‘Modernisation of India’s Internal Security Mechanism’.
Ms.Lekhi also unveiled the FICCI Compendium on Best Practices in SMART Policing 2017. This intervention brings together, in a single publication, different SMART Policing initiatives and practices undertaken by various security and law enforcement agencies across India. This compendium documents the entries felicitated with ‘FICCI SMART Policing Awards 2017’, and list the entries that were received in the course of the selection process.
The best practices documented here could be replicated by other institutions across the country.
In her Keynote Address, Ms. Lekhi said that there was a need for enhancing human interface and encouraging interactive policing. The interference of police based on caste or other such personal biases should be avoided and the police should adopt a business-like approach towards every situation. She added that policing was a state subject and each state had its share of unique issues and pace of resolving it.
Ms. Lekhi said that there was a need to step up training of police officers and modernize the systems keeping in mind the geo-political circumstances as external interfaces impacted internal security. Referring to procurement, she added that there were some obsolete policies which were creating a hindrance in acquiring better equipment for the police and such procedures needed to be reviewed.
Highlighting the importance of private sector in India’s internal security, Ms. Lekhi said that the Chief Security Officers in private organisations should be a part of the board as they had the expertise to decide the kind of equipment and strategy required to secure the premises.
Also the private sector should contribute towards building security infrastructure and work in close collaboration with enforcement agencies to up the internal security. Mr. Y.K. Modi, Past President, FICCI and Executive Chairman, Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd., said that FICCI, last year, instituted the first ever SMART Policing Awards, which recognizes the best practices in policing in India. The objective of the awards is to showcase initiatives taken by the various Internal Security Forces for the safety and security of citizens.
He said that this year over 130 entries were received from various Police Forces across India.
FICCI SMART Policing Awards will inspire various police forces in identifying and replicating SMART Policing initiatives at various levels, thus further improving policing services to the public.
In his Closing Address, Mr. G.K. Pillai, Chairman, FICCI Committee on Homeland Security and Former Union Home Secretary, Government of India, said that the police officers should act professionally in all situations. Police officers should step up to make the systems transparent and take decisions. Citing the issue of vacant sanctioned seat, he said that it is the responsibility of the police officers to ensure that these seats are filled with merit-based selection.