Law and order has to be administered effectively: Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, Feb 10 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Thursday called upon Indian Administrative Service (IAS) probationers to ensure that law and order is administered effectively.

Dr. Singh said: "I would also urge you that today our country is faced with many challenges and the challenges of Naxalite activity, the challenges of terror, the challenge of what I should describe as communal tensions, it is our duty to ensure that we should do our very best, to learn what are the factors which lead people to go astray from the mainstream thinking, what is it that we can do to bring back the misguided elements in our society. The law and order has to be administered and administered effectively."

"But we must also recognize that when we deal with problem areas in particular, when we deal with Scheduled Caste people in particular, that there are root causes of social and economic discontent and it is our duty while administering law and order, pay particular attention to promote the well being of the disadvantaged sections of the community. I have mentioned maintenance of communal harmony is absolutely necessary. Without that, India can break apart," he added.

He said special attention must be paid to the needs of SCs, STs, minorities and women.

Dr. Singh said: "Communal harmony is a must, given a ray of hope and also a sense of purpose to the young people from tribal communities, from scheduled castes community is equally important and as administrators of various districts, various parts of our country."

"I, therefore, urge each one of you to use your time to acquire the best possible skills for public administration, at the same time best possible skills to deal with law and order, to ensure that Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, our women are not feeling insecure, atrocities against the SCs/STs are a matter of national shame. Your duty must be to provide protection, succor to the most backward parts of the community," said Dr. Singh.

"I would urge those of you who come from the State where tribals are a very large part of population, have a special responsibility to ensure that these tribal communities do succeed in joining the national mainstream, that they do succeed in becoming partners in national development and therefore I would urge each one of you to study very carefully the dynamics of social and economic change, the factors that are moving us forward, the factors if which neglected can push the pace of development and therefore do as best as you can while you are at the Academy, in acquisition of knowledge," he added.

Emphasizing that changes are taking place in patterns of living all around India, Dr. Singh said: "In 20 years time, probably 50 percent of India would be living in urban areas. The management of urban chain, the management of infrastructure, the role of local level administration in meeting the needs of urban development, the needs of law and order, special problems that arise when large conglomerations in metropolitan towns become a fact of life. The policing of these areas requires special skills."

"And, therefore, our administration must be very alert to the challenges of rapid urban development, of course that does not mean that we should neglect rural areas. India still lives in rural areas. 52 percent of our urban population is still dependent on agriculture and it is there that Government has a major role to play in ensuring that development of agriculture takes place at a pace that our nation needs to provide food security, to provide employment security," he added. (ANI)