Urgent need to augment policing: Jaiswal

New Delhi, Nov.17 : With India continuing to be the major target for terrorist attacks, there is an urgent need to augment policing in the country, according to Shriprakash Jaiswal, Minister of State for Home Affairs of India.

Speaking at the 24th India Economic Summit jointly organized by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today, Jaiswal emphasized on the importance of modernizing the state police force and the need to adapt international technology to fight against terrorist activities.

According to him, "the government has already decided to set up Inter-state joint task forces to facilitate coordinated and synergised anti-naxalite operations across State boundaries and strengthen intelligence networks for this mission". The key challenge is to rehabilitate states like Chattisgarh, Bihar and Orrisa which have been affected by naxalite activities.

Looking at the worsening situation in Afghanistan, Mr. Shekhar Dutt, Deputy National Security Advisor, National Security Council, India said that "violent incidents have risen by 30 percent this year in Afghanistan. The situation on the ground has deteriorated and militancy has resurged. This has had a global impact and co-ordinated efforts must be put in place to tackle this problem". Mr. Dutt also pointed out that money generated through illegal and nefarious routes such as counterfeiting and drug dealing are injected into funding terrorism.

Jack Leslie, Chairman, Weber Shandwick Worldwide, U.S.A. said that new technologies should be adapted to engage the staggering young population of India so that they don't get diverted into terrorist activities. He added that "the public demands tough actions whenever they see a blood bath. So it's necessary to take a calibrated approach using a combination of soft power and hard power".

Ajay Chowdhry, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, HCL Infosystems India talked about the need for 'on ground policing', intelligence and information gathering to detect a problem before it occurs. Stating that the Chinese had invested billion towards technology for internal security, he emphasized the importance of using sophisticated technology like transportation security, border security, infrastructure security to prevent and detect mass destruction.

Manohar Joshi, Senior Editor, Mall Today, India said that the terrorist system in India is far more complex than any other country and there is a need to overhaul the system. There is a need for both sophisticated understanding and sophisticated handling of problems. With growth receding and the unemployment level rising the primary challenge is to train security personnel with the new technologies so they do not feel alienated.

ANI