Raipur, Nov 28: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Friday inaugurated the three-day 60th DGsP/IGsP Conference in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, calling it a key national platform for formulating strategies to address India’s internal security challenges.
In his address, Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the annual conference of top police and intelligence officials has evolved into an essential forum for identifying threats, sharing insights, and designing coordinated security policies.
Highlighting the Modi Government’s “decisive approach” against Naxalism, the Home Minister said that 586 fortified police stations have been constructed over the past seven years to strengthen the security grid. As a result, he said, Naxal-affected districts have reduced sharply from 126 in 2014 to just 11 today.
Shah expressed confidence that India will be completely free from Naxalism before the next DGsP/IGsP Conference.
The Minister said that the nation had grappled with Naxalism for nearly 40 years, but the government has provided “permanent solutions” in all three major security hotspots — Naxal areas, the North-East, and Jammu & Kashmir. “Very soon, these regions will become like the rest of the country,” he asserted.
Listing major security reforms, Shah noted that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been strengthened, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) made more robust, and three New Criminal Laws introduced to modernize policing. Once fully implemented, he said, India’s policing system will become “the most modern in the world”.
Speaking on counter-terror operations, Shah pointed to the nationwide raids and arrests following the ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI), calling it an “outstanding example of Centre–State coordination”.
He said security agencies are delivering strong blows to extremism, radicalisation and narcotics networks by focusing on accuracy of intelligence, clarity of objectives and synergy in action.
Calling for an intensified crackdown on drug networks, Shah said India must launch a “360-degree attack on narcotics and organised crime” to ensure traffickers have “not even an inch of space” in the country. He urged state police forces to work closely with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to target drug gangs operating at state, national and international levels and ensure their masterminds are put behind bars.
The three-day conference will continue with high-level sessions on terrorism, organised crime, border security, cyber threats, and national policing reforms.
