Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that he could not help wondering whether the various conferences held by the State police annually had “sunken down to yearly gatherings of a few privileged classes.”
Mr. Vijayan’s caustic observation at the venue of the 45th All India Police Science Congress here on Thursday was widely interpreted as a comment on expensive public funded official conclaves, which, in his own words, “looked good on paper but were least beneficial for catering to the needs of the common man.”
Mr. Vijayan stood on a garishly embellished dais and addressed a seated audience of suit-clad ranking officers and academicians from across the country in English. The two-day event was held at a government-run star hotel in Kovalam.
The Chief Minister asked the delegates whether the sole aim of such conferences was to “showcase their technical knowhow, theories, statistics, highflown jargon catering only to academic purposes.” Did the conference enable our policemen and women on the street to be technically competent and scientifically equipped to serve the common man? Did the meeting go beyond its academic perspective and fulfil its ultimate aim of fighting crime?
Tax payers’ money
“We should not forget the fact that the expenses for all these events and the remunerations and other benefits one enjoys are nothing but common tax payers’ money. Public service is not the forte for those who crave personal gains and popularity. It should involve sacrifices. We should be able to deliver the public solid service in return. We should remind ourselves that there should be maximum benefit for maximum people and not maximum benefit for minimum people,” he said.
M.C. Borwankar, Director, Bureau of Police Research and Development, BPR&D, assured the Chief Minister that the delegates shared his commitment to citizens. “We are citizens first and professionals second,” she said.
The conclave would help steer policies that would directly impact the public.
Nalini Netto, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, said the meet would help raise the efficiency of the police.
The law enforcement should evolve from a loud and noisy outfit into an unobtrusive force that gets about its daily business without intruding into the privacy of citizens. State Police Chief Loknath Behera and Additional Director General of Police B. Sandhya were present.
