Fundamentally, the law and order situation in our country today is under strain. There are a number of sources of this strain: There is terrorism, there is Naxalism-Left wing extremism, there is also regionalism and then communalism.
All these four areas are of great concern and we have to ensure that they are not allowed to harm the unity and integrity of our country. As I said, India is a quasi-federation. You work in various states, you belong to particular cadres, but you also belong to the fraternity of the three privileged services whose responsibility it is to use their knowledge, wisdom and experience that they gain through operations in various parts of our country, to serve our country, to maintain its unity and integrity at all costs.
Your final bible must be the Constitution of India. Our state guarantees certain fundamental rights. In administration of justice, one increasingly hears complaints of high-handedness of officials, sometimes they happen to be police officials. So, I think it is very important that, in discharging your responsibilities, the enforcement of law and order must be endowed with the spirit that is consistent with what is stated in the Constitution of India.
We have today trouble in various parts of our country, particularly in Central India. There are special problems of the North-Eastern states, there are special problems of J&K. All these areas require sustained attention if India is to retain a cohesive national identity. If the tribal areas' problems are not given the attention they deserve, then as we have seen in some parts of our country, it can give rise to Naxalism.
We cannot allow any group of our people to go the misguided path of taking law into their hands. We must do so in a manner that enhances the peoples' trust and confidence in our administration, particularly the police administration.
Also, you are a small select privileged group leading a very large number of police men and women all over the country. There are over 2 million policemen in India. We hope you will create in them a feeling that you are worthy of their trust and confidence. The well-being of policemen and policewomen and the way our police stations are managed are important.
Recently concerns have been expressed that very often, if people go to register a First Information Report (FIR), there are obstacles that they have to experience, problems arising out of the existence of vested interests. I think these are type of concerns that must be addressed. It is the right of every citizen who has a genuine complaint to have an FIR registered
So, these are some of the concerns that I have which I share with you. As I said, our country's law enforcement is under strain. I have listed four sources of strain — terrorism, naxalism, regionalism and communalism.
It is very important that all of us should be well-equipped to recognise the problems that face the country. We must deal with these forces with a great degree of efficiency, commitment and with a sense of equity and fair play. But we are also dealing with our own citizens. If some of them have gone astray, we must bring them to the path of rectitude. But we must never forget that we are dealing with our own people.
Law and order is a pre-condition of sustained development. And, therefore, if you discharge your functions well, I think you will create an environment, a climate conducive to maintenance of law and order. And if law and order is maintained, development processes will be so much smoother, so much quicker.
We are now implementing development plans and processes which, I hope over a period of time, would get rid of this poverty. The precondition of all that is that there must be effective enforcement of law and order, that the country must remain at peace.
It is my expectation from each one of you that, in serving your country, you bear in mind the type of concerns that I have just now expressed.
(Excerpts from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address to IPS Probationers in New Delhi on January 5, 2010)
