Internal security, J&K, pro-Khalistan, cyber crimes to be discussed at DGP/IGP meet

NEW DELHI: Issues related to internal security, Jammu and Kashmir, pro-Khalistan elements and cyber crimes are likely to be discussed at the three-day conference of top police officers in the country beginning Friday in Bhubaneswar, officials said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval among others will attend the Directors General of Police (DGP) and Inspectors General of Police (IGP) conference where Maoist menace, challenges posed by AI tools and threats emanating from drones are also expected to be discussed.

About 250 officers of DGP and IGP ranks will physically attend the conference while more than 200 others will participate in it virtually.

Many officers have been tasked with delivering presentations on specific subjects such as counter-terrorism, online fraud, cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, activities of pro-Khalistani groups and left wing extremism (LWE) among others, an official said.

There will be detailed deliberations on how to face all these emerging internal security challenges.

While the home minister will inaugurate the conference, the prime minister will be present on the remaining two days and deliver the concluding address on Sunday.

The conference also provides an opportunity to identify tangible action points and monitor their progress, which is also presented before the prime minister every year.

The conference is the culmination of extensive deliberations involving police and intelligence officers from district, state and national levels on identified themes, the official said.

Best practices from states and Union territories under each of the themes will be presented at the conference so that the states can learn from each other.

Since 2014, the prime minister has taken a keen interest in the DGP conference.

Free flowing thematic discussions over breakfast, lunch and dinner have also been planned in this year’s conference.

This will provide an opportunity to the senior police officials to share their views and recommendations with the prime minister on key policing and internal security issues affecting the country.

Till 2013, the annual meet was held in New Delhi. The following year, after the Modi government came to power, it was decided to hold the event, organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), outside the national capital.

Accordingly, the conference was organised at Guwahati in 2014, Dhordo in Rann of Kutch in 2015, National Police Academy, Hyderabad in 2016; BSF Academy, Tekanpur in 2017; Kevadiya iIn 2018; IISER, Pune in 2019; Police Headquarters, Lucknow in 2021; National Agricultural Science Complex in Pusa, Delhi in 2023 and Jaipur in 2024.

Continuing with this tradition, the conference is being organised in Bhubaneswar this time.

The number of business sessions and topics have increased significantly, with a focus on improving policing in the service of the people.

Before 2014, the deliberations largely focused on national security matters. Since 2014, these conferences have a twin focus on national security as well as core policing issues, including prevention and detection of crime, community policing, law and order and improving the police’s image, among others, another official said.

Earlier, the conference was Delhi-centric with officers coming together only for the meet.

Residing on the same premises over two to three days has served to build a heightened sense of unity among officers of all cadres and organisations since 2014, the official added.

Direct interaction of the police’s top brass with the head of government has resulted in a convergence of views on crucial challenges faced by the country and the emergence of doable recommendations, the official further said.

In the past few years, the topics have been selected after detailed discussions with the highest echelons of the police service.

Once selected, several interactions on presentations are held before committees of DGPs to encourage participation and incorporate ideas from the field and from younger officers.

As a result, all presentations are now broad-based, content-intensive and carry a set of cogent and actionable recommendations.

Since 2015, detailed follow-up of recommendations of past conferences has become the norm and is the topic of the first business session which is attended by the prime minister and the home minister, the official said.

Recommendations are tracked closely by the conference secretariat, led by the IB with the help of nodal officers in the states.

Decisions made in the past few conferences brought in significant policy changes, leading to improvement of policing, including setting higher standards for effective policing in rural and urban areas and improved methods of modern policing based on smart parameters, the official added. (PTI)