Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said officers of the All India Services, especially those in the IPS, should stay away from publicity as the desire for publicity hinders work.
Shah asked the young IPS officers to take necessary steps to improve the image of the police while serving their respective organizations and said there is a need to increase public outreach.
The desire for publicity hinders work, he said, adding that even though it is difficult to stay away from social media in the present times, he interacted with the probationary officers of the 72nd batch of the Indian Police Service (IPS) through video-conferencing.
Avoid publicity: From Home Minister to IPS officers
A Home Ministry statement said the Home Minister said that the police officers should stay away from publicity and concentrate on their duties.
Shah said the police have been accused of taking “no action” or taking “excessive action”, so they should work towards taking “appropriate action”.
“Only action means natural action and police should understand the law and do the right thing,” he said.
Shah said that only police personnel will have to work to improve their image.
Dialogue, sensitivity necessary to improve image of police: Shah
“To improve the image of the police, communication and sensitivity is necessary, so there is a need to sensitize all police personnel as well as increase communication and public contact,” he said.
The Home Minister said that it is very difficult to collect information about crime without public relations, so police officers of the level of Superintendent of Police and Deputy Superintendent of Police go to tehsils and villages to meet people and stay overnight.
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Along with this, they should also interact with the people living under the jurisdiction of important police stations of their area.
The Home Minister asked the young police officers to act with caution as it would be their prime responsibility to maintain law and order and ensure the criminal justice system and a little haste can do injustice to someone.
Emphasizing on the welfare of police constables, Shah said that the police officers should work for the whole life for this.
An important part of the constable police system
He said that constables constitute 85 per cent of the police forces and they are an important part of the police system.
“If we don’t take care of their better training, health, good working environment and housing, will the remaining 15 per cent people be able to run the organization well,” he said.
Shah said that the most difficult duty in the police is that of the constables, so it is very important to provide them all the necessary facilities and be sensitive towards them.
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