Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said women police officers could play a pivotal role in preventing children of Jammu and Kashmir from taking the wrong path. 

“We have to work towards stopping children from joining the wrong path. Women officers could counsel their mothers and bring back the children to mainstream. Women force can help in stopping children in their tracks,” he stated.

PM Modi speech to IPS probationers | Highlights

Mr. Modi was addressing the ‘Dikshant’ ceremony or passing out parade of the Indian Police Service (IPS) probationers at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) through videoconference. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Minister of State G. Kishan Reddy and Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhallla joined the event from Delhi.

In all, 131 IPS officers, including 28 women, concluded their two-year training on Friday. 

Mr. Modi interacted with some of the IPS probationers, asking them about their background and education.

While interacting with J&K cadre officer Tanushree, who has a degree in textiles designing, he said, “Terror incidents are main news in newspapers everyday… Jammu, Kashmir Valley, Ladakh and Kargil also have other specialities. They are lovely and nice people and we believe that with everyone’s effort we will be able to bring back happiness in their lives. Kashmir has a unique strength, every house has deft hands and the shawls and handicrafts they can make is phenomenal.” He asked the officer to make small groups of women and use those skills to bond with them and work in the direction of saving J&K children. 

The Union government revoked the special status of J&K under Article 370 of the Constitution on August 6 last year and bifurcated and downgraded the State into Union Territories- J&K and Ladakh.

Counselling for stress

Kiran Shruti, a Tamil Nadu cadre officer, spoke about the mandatory counselling given to policemen in the State suffering from mental stress. Responding to this, the Prime Minister said, “There should be an institutional mechanism for the wellbeing of the cadre. Stress is not something that cannot be managed... Invite teachers or experts once a month… I always tell people who have stress that yoga and pranayama can benefit… it is proven that if you put your soul in it, you will not feel the stress, however much the workload. You will always be smiling.”

Mr. Modi asked the young police officers to be conscious of their image once they stepped out of the academy, as “first impression is the last impression” and their image would follow them in all postings.

He asked the officers to keep the premises of police stations clean. 

“Some policemen, when they join the service, want to instill fear in public and think that anti-social elements should shudder at their name. This feeling clouds the minds of people who grow up watching movies like ‘Singham’. You have to decide that you want to create fear or lasting compassion in the minds of people,” he said.

Public representatives were important to society and should be respected. “Usually there is a difference between police and politicians…we should not forget we are in a democratic set-up. Public representatives are important and their respect means respect for democracy,” he noted. 

Pat for academy chief

Reminiscing an incident when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat and SVPNPA Director Atul Karwal was the security in charge, Mr. Modi said, “I have trained under Atul who is now giving you training. Sometimes I broke law to shake hands with people. Twenty years ago, Atul Karwal came to my chamber and expressed his anger with me. He said I could not get down from my car randomly. He looked me in the eye and spoke to me, he did not budge even when I told him that you don’t own me. Atul asserted that you have to follow rules. He expressed his thoughts, the way the police officer expressed himself, by respecting the importance of a public representative. He was polite yet firm.”

Intelligence gathered by constabulary should never be sidelined and strengthened instead. Technology had helped police but it has also led to suspension of policemen who are caught for doing any wrong-doing.

Use of technology

 “Use technology…There is no dearth of information, big data and artificial intelligence. Information on social media is an asset. When I was the Chief Minister, there was a constable in my security team. There was an email which couldn’t be cracked, he was Class 12 pass, he was able to crack it and then Home Minister P. Chidambaram even felicitated him,” he observed. 

“Never underestimate training. In our country, training is considered a punishment. We have to come out of that mindset. I would like to complement Atul Karwal again. He has a technology background and has even climbed the Everest. He chose training [as SVPNPA Director]. We have also launched Mission Karmyogi to highlight the importance of training,” he added.