New Delhi: Internal security is the top priority of the Modi government, Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday, emphasising that several steps have been taken to ensure it, including improving vigil on the borders and cracking down on fake notes.
Inaugurating the new Delhi Police headquarters, he stressed on the need to change the image of police.
"Internal security is on the top of the priority list of the Modi government. We have undertaken a lot of work to improve security on the borders and crackdown on fake notes," Shah said, adding that security forces are working diligently towards accomplishing it.
He paid tributes to Delhi Police personnel, who lost their lives in the 2001 Parliament attack and were conferred with Kirti Chakra, and to inspector Mohan Chand Sharma killed during the Batla House encounter.
Talking about the importance of the police in the nation's progress, the BJP chief said that a stable law and order situation is the most important for economic growth and social development in the country.
He observed that the police is perpetually projected in negative light in popular media, but the sacrifices made round-the-clock by officers and jawans to ensure the safety of citizens are seldom highlighted.
"Such a kind of negative projection demoralises our police force. The public image of police needs to change," he said.
The home minister said the government is working with a "well-planned, time-bound and scientific strategy" under the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to correct this situation.
The Modi government has developed the National Police Memorial in New Delhi which chronicles the sacrifices of over 34,000 officers and jawans who laid down their lives for the country.
He urged the public to visit the memorial and witness firsthand the challenges faced by police forces and sacrifices made by them for securing the nation.
However, Shah also noted that the police needs to be proactive and responsive towards redressing the grievances of the public.
He cautioned the Delhi Police that new buildings do not guarantee a reformed police force. "It can be achieved only by transforming the spirit of policing towards being public service oriented. Only then the public image would improve and the efforts that the force is making would achieve the intended positive results," he said.
He congratulated the Delhi Police for its new headquarters and said, "Finally, after 70 years they got their own house. It was delayed but it happened for good. The Delhi Police now has its own headquarters."
He added that the inauguration could not have happened on a more auspicious day than the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the country's first home minister and 'iron man of India'.
Commemorating the contribution of Sardar Patel in national integration, Shah said that he was known for his actions, more than his words, and for integrating over 550 princely states at the time of Independence.
"Sardar Patel accomplished a near-impossible task of surmounting tough challenges in a short time and creating a united India that we are proud of today. Had he not been there, India would not have had the kind of stature and importance in the world that it has today," he added.
He also remembered Patel as being instrumental in reorganising the civil services in independent India and said successive governments had not recognised his contribution for many years after Independence.
"The youth of the country must take his life as a case study and try to imbibe his values in their lives to understand India, as Sardar Patel embodied the true spirit of India," he added.
The new police headquarters on Jai Singh Road in Lutyens' Delhi has been built in a public private partnership mode at a total cost of Rs 286 crores.
The new PHQ is spread over an area of about eight acres and the building has 17 floors which will accommodate all the functionally required officers, control rooms, conference rooms, control and communication centre.
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