By IANS,
New Delhi : Measures to tackle terror and Maoist threats, strengthening internal security and filling the gaping vacancies in the state police forces will be topmost on the agenda at the three-day annual conference of state police chiefs beginning here Monday.
The meeting, which comes close on the heels of a chief ministers’ conference on internal security and other related issues last month, will be addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and inaugurated by Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and in the northeast will be discussed threadbare at the conference, organised by the Intelligence Bureau, a home ministry official said.
The 44th conference of director generals of police and inspector generals of police is being held at Vigyan Bhawan Sep 14-16.
Manmohan Singh will address the conference on the second day and present police medals for meritorious service.
The conference is expected to deliberate on major internal security threats, including left wing extremism, terrorism, coastal security, insurgency in the northeast and fake currency notes in the country, an official statement said.
“The agenda also includes presentations on important policing issues like security arrangements planned for the 2010 Commonwealth Games (in Delhi),” the statement said.
Measures adopted to tighten security along the 7,200 km-long Indian coastline will also be reviewed.
At the Aug 17 conference of chief ministers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had emphasised that cross-border terrorism was still a major threat and warned that the government had credible information of terror groups in Pakistan planning fresh attacks against India. The issue is expected to come up again at the police chiefs’ meeting.
The home minister, fresh from his trip to the US, is expected to share his experiences on policing in mega cities and also urge police chiefs to put in place effective counter-terrorism measures.
During the internal security conclave, Chidambaram had expressed regret that the state governments were not doing enough to strengthen their respective police forces and improve intelligence-sharing, which he emphasised was crucial to fight the security challenges India faces.