Modern police force must for India to become manufacturing hub: NITI CEO

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Thursday said the government's goal of making India a manufacturing hub cannot be realised without a modern and forward-looking force.

Kant said this at the launch ceremony of Delhi Police's Platinum Jubliee Logo.

"As the government looks to make India a manufacturing hub - an 'Aspirational India' - with a vibrant economy surging past all records of growth and distribution, this cannot happen without a modern and forward looking police force," he said.

The Platinum Jubilee Logo was unveiled by Chief Guest Kant, who was flanked by Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana on the occasion at the city police headquarters on Jai Singh Marg.

This is the beginning of a series of events to commemorate the platinum jubilee year marking 75 years of glorious existence of the force, officials said.

"The Delhi Police is already seen as an efficient organization with its capabilities of security, crime control and fighting terror, along with an exemplary humane touch", he said.

"Its success lies in its agility and adaptability in a dynamically changing technological and security environment. All institutions of government need to share the vision of government to bring about faster changes induced by technology in today's world," Kant was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Delhi Police.

Emphasizing on a well planned sustainable urbanization, Kant said "In the last 60 years, nobody spoke about urbanization, they focused on rural development. Urbanization brings road, dynamism, centre of creativity and innovation... There is no country that has grown without urbanization. We need to focus on urbanization and sustainable urbanization".

Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner Asthana recounted the history of the force through these years in becoming "the most professional force" in the service of citizens and emhasized that it has always learned and renovated itself in adapting to social change induced by economic and technological development and has never stopped learning to better its own standards and benchmarks.

Addressing the gathering, Kant said that 75 years in the life of a police force was a very unique occasion. "The evolution of Delhi city as the national capital is organically linked to that of Delhi Police," he said, emphasizing that managing a city of over three crore population which is more than the combined population of 20 European nations is an extraordinarily challenging task and the Delhi Police has excelled in its entrustment.

He mentioned the work of Delhi Police during Covid-19 pandemic as "exemplary" and "a lesson for many countries to learn from".

Kant emphasized on data to drive changes and data driven competitiveness to achieve efficiency and performance in crime control and prevention. The challenges posed by repeat offenders can be solved with data driven analysis and technological applications, he said.

Delhi Police is data rich and can use this for predictive policing in crime and for intelligent traffic management, Kant observed.

Welcoming the higher presence of women in Delhi Police and its efforts for making itself youth-friendly by means of YUVA initiative to provide skill-based training, the Niti Aayog CEO said that other police forces of the country can learn from Delhi Police which is the pride of India.

"Police has to be an agent of change and not of status quo in driving economic change and development by providing sound law and order and security," he added.