Stating that peace and tranquillity formed the basis for economic growth and social development, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said that the police force played the most crucial role in ensuring peace.
She was speaking at a passing-out parade at the Tamil Nadu Police Academy in Unamanchery, where a record number of 1,061 men and women joined the Tamil Nadu Police as Sub-Inspectors in Law and Order, Armed Reserve and Special Police.
The Chief Minister said it was the paramount responsibility of police personnel to be polite and courteous with law-abiding citizens, while at the same, be stern with offenders and criminals.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said one important indication of a developed State was its people enjoying the benefits of progress. For people to witness this progress, it was important for the State to develop economically. The development of human resource and social capital would spur economic development in a State.
“Socio economic and an individual's development are part of the nation's economic growth. To ensure this economic growth, there has to be industrial and infrastructure development,” the Chief Minister said, adding that peace and tranquillity were the most important factors to achieve this.
She highlighted the role and importance of discipline in the Police force. “Only when there is discipline, can the police act without fear of favour or act in an unbiased manner. Laws were formed only for the improvement of the quality of lives of the people,” she said.
The Chief Minister said for the police force to carry out the duties efficiently and for the service of the people, modernisation was necessary. She had initiated these measures in 1991 by acquiring new weapons, communication equipment and creation of new specialised wings.
Ms. Jayalalithaa also handed over the Director General of Police Sword for being the Best Overall Cadet to S.Sundaraj, Pandeeswari Kannan and R.Harihara Sugan, who also received the Amith Varma Memorial Rolling Trophy. She inspected the parade in the drill square in an open jeep. She arrived at the Academy in a helicopter.
Letika Saran, Director General of Police (Training), welcomed the gathering. K. Ramanujam, DGP, administered the pledge to the newly recruited Sub-Inspectors. Debendranath Sarangi, Chief Secretary, and R. Rajagopal, Home Secretary, were also present.
A note said that among the 1,061 SIs who took part in the passing out parade, 307 were women. Among the 1,061 young men and women, 773 of them would be sent on duty to the law and order police stations, 166 to the Armed Reserve Police and 122 to TN Special Police.
A total of 256 of them were postgraduates. They had successfully completed 12 months of training that included core subjects like law and scientific aids to investigation, cyber crime, internal security, maintenance of law and order and public peace, communication skills and many others, in addition to outdoor activities, physical training and firing.
