Developing soft skills vital part of police training: Modi

Hyderabad: Emphasising on development of soft skills among the police force, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said human and behavioural psychology should be vital parts of police training, even as he called for a qualitative change in the force.
Addressing the annual conference of Directors General / Inspectors General of Police of States and UTs and Heads of Central Police at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy here, he said the development of soft skills was now essential and should become a part of the training drill.
"Aspects such as human and behavioural psychology should be vital parts of police training," he stressed.
The prime minister recalled that it was on this day in 2008 that a deadly terror attack had struck Mumbai, and police had bravely fought against terrorists. He recalled the over 33,000 police personnel, who have laid down their lives in line of duty. On law and order, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of foot patrolling and constabulary intelligence.
Modi further called for a qualitative change in the police force through a collective training effort. "Technology and human interface are both important for the police force to keep progressing," he said.
Noting that the annual conference has "undergone a transformation in the way it is conducted", Modi said it had become a platform for sharing experiences which leads to good inputs for policy planning. This is for the third time since Independence that the conference is being held outside Delhi. It was held in Guwahati in 2014 and Kutch in Gujarat last year.
The idea of holding the meeting of DGPs and IGPs outside Delhi was mooted by Modi after he assumed power in 2014.
The prime minister also laid emphasis on concrete outcomes out of the actionable points that have been finalised. He said leadership skills were important, and the onus lay on senior officers to inculcate these skills among the police personnel. On the occasion, the prime minister launched a mobile app 'Indian Police at Your Call'.
He presented the President's Police Medals for distinguished service to officers of the Intelligence Bureau. Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister laid a wreath at the Martyrs Column at the Academy. He also offered floral tributes at the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and planted a sapling before taking part in a Yoga session with top police officers attending the conference.