NO PLACE FOR CRIME AND CRIMINALS

Ever since he took charge, Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched a zero-tolerance war against organised crime. His strong and decisive actions have not only received unprecedented public approval but reduced crime by 30 per cent.

On March 12, addressing the first convocation of Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU)—an institution specialising in national and internal security—in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that there was a need for radical reforms in policing, which had not been done since Independence. "The primary goal [of police] should be that in a democracy, one should be strict against those instigating society and soft towards society in general," the prime minister said.

As per Indian constitution, policing is a state subject and the responsibility for introducing reform in the police force lies with the chief minister of a state. One chief minister who has been trying to literally walk the talk of Prime Minister Modi is Assam's Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma. Ever since he took charge of the state on May 10, 2021, one of his top priorities has been to reform the police force to make it more efficient, productive, fast and people friendly. On the day he swore in, Dr Sarma instructed the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister to convene a meeting at 9 pm at his residence with the DGP, Special DGP (Law and Order) and Principal Secretary Home. In the meeting, he first took an update from the senior officials about the work that had been done in the last couple of years. Then he sought out their opinions on the proposed priorities of the Assam police. Once all the officers spoke their minds, the chief minister, who heard them patiently for more than two hours, directed the top officials to chalk out a working plan to weed out seven menaces from the state—drug addiction, crime against women and children, cattle smuggling, rhino poaching, encroachment of land, terrorism, and crude oil pilferage.