Genesis

The Prime Minister of India announced the intent of the Government to set up a Police Mission in his address to the DGsP/IGsP conference (October 6, 2005). The Hon’ble Prime Minister declared “the Mission will seek to transform the police forces in the country into effective instruments for maintenance of internal security and facing the challenges of the next century, by equipping them with the necessary material, intellectual and organizational resources. The Mission should be charged with the responsibility of creating a new vision for the Police. It could decide proper time frame in which to accomplish this task. The Mission would need to pay special attention to empowering the police force at all levels; to appropriate decentralization and delegation of powers; to enhancing the skills and competency levels at the grassroots; to the promotion of a culture of excellence in police organizations; to enhance accountability to the people; to meet new challenges such as asymmetric warfare, new trends in urban unrest and disorder, and new forms of social unrest".

 Earlier, while addressing the first conference of the Superintendents of Police (September 1st, 2005), the Prime Minister remarked that time had come when we should integrate policing also into our planning for development purposes, and that this old fashioned division between the development expenditure and non-development expenditure had outlived its utility. In yet another high-level meeting of the Chief Ministers (April15, 2005), the Hon’ble Prime Minister emphasized that development and security are truly mutually inter-related and that we should evolve a combined strategy to deal simultaneously with the twin challenges of development and security.

Objectives

The NPM has emerged on the basis of the above said observations of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. While formulating the NPM, it was felt that the Police Mission, in comparison to other missions such as National Rural Health Mission, Rajiv Gandhi National Mission on Drinking Water and National Horticulture Mission, differs basically in that, whereas the other Missions mentioned above deal with developmental themes, the NPM would be the first mission in the field of regulatory and enforcement administration, linked closely to the sovereign functions of the State.

It has been clearly outlined that the NPM shall not be a substitute for the various Committees/ Commissions set up on police reforms, but would rather equip the police to think creatively and help it to transform itself from a reactive to a proactive organization. Thunder mentioned objectives have, in brief, been identified:

1. “Police” and “Law & Order” being State subjects, as per the Constitution of India, the needed police reforms and transformations have to be undertaken primarily by the State and U.T. Governments. As such, the NPM will have to strive, in consultation with the State Governments, to bring about the desired results.

2. The Mission shall strive to redefine the police role in the context of the phenomenal changes that have taken place in the socio- economic scenario of the country, and the emerging challenges for policing and security of the State on the one hand and, for ensuring good governance and effective delivery systems for the benefit of the citizens, on the other.

3. The Mission shall endeavor to bring in the needed attitudinal changes, especially at the grass-roots level, by transforming the ‘force psychology’ into a ‘service psychology’.

4. The Mission shall simultaneously focus on appropriately empowering the police for enabling it to function as a more efficient, effective and responsive agency both as an instrument of the State and of service to the citizens. The Mission shall also lay down road map for bringing insensitivity among police personnel towards concerns of vulnerable and weaker sections of the society.

5. The Mission shall promote networking of police organizations with educational and industrial forums for taking up studies for bettering the policing methodologies. It shall also focus on tapping the vast community resources in various aspects of policing and in the process, also bringing about greater transparency and accountability.

6. The Mission shall take an overall view of the resources and facilities available within the country and even abroad, which could be dovetailed to bring about the required specialization in areas such as counter terrorism, counter insurgency, cyber and specialized economic crimes, etc.

7. The Mission, through its composition, shall draw its strength from presence of eminent persons from the fields of Science and Technology, Trade and Industry, Civil societies, academia, media etc., along with a vast pool of administrative and policing experts available at the Centre and in the States.

8. The NPM shall endeavor to ensure uniformity in police rules and regulations, as far as possible, in the different States and Union Territories, which is necessitated by growing movement of men and material from State to State.

9. The Mission shall focus both on the special requirements of the mega/ metropolitan policing, and systems to strengthen policing in rural areas.

10. The Mission shall review the ongoing Scheme of the Government of India for modernization of Police Forces, with a view to enhance its impact, including proper utilization of the funds made available.

11. The NPM shall also effectively utilize for that have been set up to standardize police training in the States, and to establish specialized police training centers as Centers of Excellence

12. The Mission shall lay special emphasis on harnessing technology inlaid of policing, so that the challenges posed by modern day criminals, terrorists, extremists, and others could be matched with superior capability in the Police Forces.

13. The Mission would also examine issues, which have wider connotation beyond law and order, but are closely linked to internal security issues, including political under- pinning of insurgency, terrorism, etc.

14. In consultation with the State Governments, annual plans for modernization of police forces would incorporate the recommendations of the Police Mission and its micro-missions on technology to provide force-multiplier benefits and “decisive edge” advantage.

Mandate

The Hon’ble Prime Minister announced the establishment of the National Police Mission (NPM) during the DGsP/IGsP Conference in October 2005, with an aim to create a new vision for the police and transform the forces into an effective instrument for maintaining the internal security and taking on myriad challenges of the 21st century, by equipping them with the necessary material, intellectual and organizational resources.

Objectives

Prepare the police forces for emerging challenges.

Apply specialization in counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, cyber and economic crimes.

Strengthen metropolitan and rural policing.

Trigger an attitudinal change in police by transforming the ‘force psychology’ into ‘service psychology’.

Harness technology in aid of police working.

Adopt community policing and ensure effective delivery of police services for the citizens.