Modernization of Police

When externally sponsored armed insurgency erupted in the State in 1990, the J&K Police suddenly found that it was face to face with a great and serious challenge.  Before that and during the last phase of 1980s, there were sporadic acts of violence and sabotage in the valley and the police dealt with these in normal course. Hindsight reveals that those were the attempts made by the terrorists to test the strength and delivery potential of the State Police. The fact of the matter is that at the time of eruption of armed insurgency, our police force was not well equipped or adequately equipped to face the challenge of terrorism in its phenomenal dimensions. Nevertheless, the police force rose to the occasion and in collaboration with the army and other branches of security structure rendered exceptionally valuable service to the State and its people. In the process, the State Police force had to make many sacrifices and their wards had to suffer the brunt of the loss of bread earner. The Government took proper care of the bereaved families as provided by the rules.
Terrorism and insurgency in the State sponsored from across the border have opened a new and unprecedented chapter in the history of the State. It is more than two decades old militancy and by now we have understood the deep and extensive conspiracy of our neighbour to disrupt peace and order in our State. As such the phenomenon of fighting the insurgents seems to be a long drawn process which may take another two or three decades to eradicate. Therefore, we need to plan modernization of police in all its areas at a rapid pace. Internal security is a joint effort of the State and the Centre and the Ministry of Home Affairs is fully seized of its responsibility in providing wherewithal to our police force. It is in this background that the Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned rupees 97.79 crore   for the financial year 2014-15 as plan and non-plan assistance towards modernization of police in its entirety. The first installment of rupees 36.98 crore has been released to start the modernization process. The formula for the grants is 90:10 which means that ten per cent is to be provided by the State while 90 per cent will be provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is a good sign that the Central Government has classified J&K in A category as it is a disturbed state.
The grants have essentially to be distributed into two heads, namely arms acquisition and infrastructure. In regard to arms, we must understand that the terrorists infiltrating from across the border are equipped with most modern weapons provided to them by Pakistan Army through ISI. All sorts of arms and explosives and also communication gadgets are provided to them. It is not possible to fight them with old and obsolete arms and equipment. The standard of the arms and fighting equipment of our police force has to be commensurate with what the adversary is using. Then alone can the police become a match. Our police force must have the most sophisticated weaponry, logistics and communication system. Most importantly, we need to upgrade the training system of police force. They have to be trained in guerilla fighting, commando training, and also handling the mobs with minimum use of force. The insurgency in Kashmir has thrown up many new aspects of services which the police force is required to render.
Equally important is the logistic and infrastructure part. We need more police stations and posts all equipped properly to perform their duty. Apart from it, we need proper residential quarters for police force, schools for their children, health care and pensioner benefits. In case of demise of policemen on duty, their wards and families have to be taken care of and there must be adequate provision for these situations. Policemen rendering extraordinarily impressive service need to be encouraged and given incentives. We need more battalions of female police personnel. Every year police medals are given by the President of Republic Day and many police officials and officers from the State have been awarded in the past. These gallantry awards boost the moral of all ranks in the force and are welcome. There should be more facilities for the wards of police force in the form of reservation of seats for their wards in professional institutions, services, promotions and other facilities like housing, health etc.  We must also remember that a day will come soon when the army will retire to their barracks and the entire burden of maintaining security of the State will be shouldered by the police. Therefore, it is important that the police force is modernized and trained and put on completely modern lines.
It is also to be impressed upon the Government that pending utilization certificates in respects of centrally provided funds are submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs to make future transactions smooth. Also Action Taken Reports too have to be submitted in time. The Government must play its role effectively to facilitate the Ministry of Home Affairs in making grants take their normal course.

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