On behalf of Central Reserve Police Force, various procurement initiatives and measures for the smooth processing of requirements were explained by Ms Anupam Kulshreshtha, IPS, IG (Prov). The Industrial perspective was represented by Mr Ashwini Channan, Director, Honewell India group.

Interaction with Senior Officials of CAPFs and State Police Forces

In the next session devoted to candid and frank discussion between industry representatives and Central Armed Police Forces was chaired by Shri P.C. Haldar, Former Director Intelligence Bureau. Shri Haldar outlined the critical importance of the role played by the Central Armed Police Forces in the overall scheme of ensuring internal security management in coordination with the state police forces.

As lead speaker of the session Shri O.P. Singh, Director General, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) emphasised upon the technological deficiency aspect which is considered to be the biggest challenge facing the security agencies at present. Shri A. P. Maheshwari, IPS, Additional Director General, Border Security Force gave a comprehensive account of the on ground challenges faced by the law enforcing agencies ranging from plateau to the high altitude region in the Himalayas.

Industry perspective was represented in a very candid and structured expose by Shri Rahul Chaudhry, CEO, Tata power SED.

Perspective on Police Modernisation

The fourth session was chaired by veteran Police Officer Shri Prakash Singh, IPS, Former Director General, Border Security Force. The theme of the session was perspective on Police Modernisation.

Shri Singh who is known as the authority on the subject of Police reforms, provided a comprehensive outline of police reforms and its significance for the national security. He prominently focused on the phenomenon of policing which has evolved from the conventional days to today’s smart policing days. He also emphasised upon the proactive approach on the part of lead institutions like Bureau of Police Research and Development to act as catalyst of police modernisation and transform the concept of Policing in India.

Shri Krishna Chaudhary, IPS, Director General, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBPF) gave a realistic perspective about utility of technology for CAPFs. He strongly appealed to the industry to invest more on qualitative research and development which should be in tune with the requirements of the forces. He emphasised upon quality driven procurement process rather than vendor driven process, which will enable natural and speedy movement of CAPF and other agencies on field locations known for various geographical and environmental complexities.

Need for High-end Technologies

In the concluding session, Shri Alok Joshi, IPS, Chairman, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Government of India, outlined the evolution of the concept of Homeland Security in India from the baton days to the contemporary era dominated by technological innovations and ideas. Shri Joshi deliberated upon the relevance of high-end technologies and the challenges faced by the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and law enforcing agencies. He further informed that high end technology demands customised, speedy and handy technology which could be delivered as per the customised requirement of agencies working in their respective domains. Besides, the emerging challenges posed by possible dual use of technology needs to be studied in greater depth. He further underscored the need of social media analysis in time bound manner. Thus, industry can provide greater techniques and facilitate speedy data analysis to scan, analyse, real time tracking, technology to process data in real time. Thus, a strong emphasis was given on speedy and time bound analysis of Big Data.

In his special address, Mr. Satish Chandra Jha, Advisor, NTRO, referred to the need for development of security awareness in the society which will facilitate speedy and comprehensive development of the Homeland Security concept in India. While simplifying the concept of high-end technology, he defined it as a technology which is speedy, handy and relevant to the present day and oriented towards an assured secure future. Therefore, timely interaction between industry and agencies would provide greater understanding about the needs of the CAPFs and agencies. This would strengthen the homeland security structure and enable it with suitable capabilities to deal with the evolving complex threat matrix, Shri Jha added.

Valedictory Session

The Valedictory Address was delivered by Mr. K. M. Singh, IPS, Former Member NDMA & Former DG, CISF. Mr. Singh alluded to the importance of human resources development in the police force, strongly emphasizing on quality and well trained human resources as a prerequisite for developing capabilities of the agencies responsible for internal security of India.

He further highlighted the need to build a robust cyber security framework, well supported by indigenous industry and for this, he suggested development of a technically qualified cadre in the CAPFs and the State Police forces to tackle cyber and high-tech crimes. While summing up the overall phenomenon of Homeland Security, Shri K M Singh complimented the industries for their contribution to the internal security of India and expressed hope that in future the industries will co-operate with the agencies for securing the future of the country.

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