Today’s policing requires skills like negotiating and other soft skills that are needed to function in a democratic scenario, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Delivering the first convocation address at the Rashtriya Raksha University at Lavad in Gandhinagar, Modi stressed the need to change the image of police and security personnel.
“Post-independence, there was a need of reforms in the country's security apparatus. A perception was developed that we have to be careful of the uniformed personnel. But it has transformed now. When people see uniformed personnel now, they get the assurance of help,” the prime minister said.
More than increasing the number of personnel, what was needed was trained officials who understand technology, human psyche, know how to communicate with the young generation and deal with the leaders of mass agitations, the prime minister said.
Due to the lack of trained manpower, security forces lose the capacity for "negotiation" and "things go wrong at the last moment, sometimes due to a few words," he said.
Modi underlined the importance of technology in the security and policing work, and said if criminals are using technology, the same technology can be harnessed to nab them, too. This emphasis on technology would also enable even the divyang people to contribute in the field, he said.
Pointing out that Gandhinagar has a National Law University, Raksha University and Forensic Science University, the prime minister called for synergy between these institution through regular combined symposiums to create a holistic education in these related fields.
“Never make the mistake of treating this as police university. This is a Raksha university that takes care of the security of the country in its entirety,” Modi said.
The prime minister expressed satisfaction with the growing number of girls and women in security field. “We are seeing greater participation of women in defence sector. Be it Science, Shiksha or Suraksha, women are leading from the front”, he said.
As many as 1,090 students were conferred degrees at the first convocation. RRU was set up in 2020 to meet the need for trained manpower in policing, criminal justice and correctional administration.