CONFERENCE CONCLUDES: Director-General and Inspector-General of Police B.S. Sial welcoming Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil at the valedictory of 37th All-India Police Science Congress in Bangalore on Thursday. Governor T.N. Chaturvedi is seen .
51; Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: The Union Government has asked States to raise at least 70 battalions of the Indian Reserve Police, for which the expenditure will initially be borne by the Centre, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said here on Thursday.

Speaking at the valedictory of the 37th All-India Police Science Congress, organised by the State police, Mr. Patil said this was being done in order to meet the challenges posed by the growing incidence and spread of terrorism.

He suggested that States share the services of these battalions to address common problems of terrorism and subversive activity. They could provide the battalions for a fee to States which needed their services, he said.

Mr. Patil said the Union Government had initiated the process of raising 300 new battalions for Central forces such as the Central Reserve Police force, the Border Security Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Force. This was the result of recognition that the time had come to adequately address terrorism, and contain and combat it effectively, Mr. Patil said.

He said the shortage of police personnel was felt acutely, particularly as new threats from possibilities of biological warfare and chemical weapons were becoming more real than ever.

Recognising the situation, the Centre had made generous allocations for modernisation of the police force and acquisition of state-of-the-art gadgets. "States need not feel that the Centre will grudge them funds for this purpose," Mr. Patil said.

Science and technology, the Minister said, should be integral to the process of modernisation, and the focus should be equally on infrastructure enhancement. However, special training and recruitment was also important, he said. While the Indian Penal Code and the Evidence Act, handed down from the days of the British, had proved useful in the economic, psychological and social context, updating of these laws, to keep up with the changing times and the challenge posed by new types of crime, was long overdue, Mr. Patil said.

Director-General and Inspector-General of Police B.S. Sial and other senior police officials of the State were present on the occasion.

Inspection

Mr. Patil visited Adugodi, Ashoknagar and Banaswadi here to inspect the quality of construction of police station buildings. He also visited the police residential quarters adjacent to the police stations.

The Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation (KSPHC) constructed the Adugodi police station, the Banaswadi police station was built on public-private partnership, and the Public Works Department is constructing buildings at Ashoknagar.

Mr. Patil went around the residential quarters and spoke to occupants. State police officials, who accompanied the Home Minister, told Mr. Patil that the allocation of funds under the Police Modernisation Scheme of the Union Government was inadequate.

Addressing presspersons, Mr. Patil said there were over 15,000 police stations in the country, and many of them did not have basic facilities. A majority of police housing quarters also lacked facilities. The shortcomings would be addressed under the scheme, he added.

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