NEW DELHI: The West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Tamil Nadu chief ministers, who also hold the home portfolio in their respective states, did not attend the Union Home Ministry-driven Chintan Shivir conclave on internal security, which started on Thursday.
These non-BJP state governments deputed either the directors-general of police and an additional chief secretary or a lesser minister to attend the two-day conclave which is scheduled to hold in-depth discussions on cyber and information security, enhancing the conviction rate, drug trafficking and national security and border management issues.
West Bengal, for instance, is being represented by Additional Director General Niraj Kumar Singh and an additional chief secretary. Curiously, Singh, who is ADG Home Guards, will make a presentation on border management along with Rajasthan Home Secretary Bhanu Ataru and Tamil Nadu ADGP (Coastal Security) Sandeep Mittal. Both these presentations will be made on October 28.
While the chief ministers of West Bengal (Mamata Banerjee), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Jharkhand (Hemant Soren), Odisha (Naveen Pattnaik) and Tamil Nadu (M K Stalin) were the notable absentees, the chief ministers of Kerala (Pinarayi Vijayan) and Punjab (Bhagwant Mann) attended today’s session. Odisha was, however, represented by junior home minister Tushar Kanti Behera.
In fact, besides Vijayan, the chief ministers of Assam (Himanta Biswa Sarma), UP (Yogi Adityanath, Tripura (Manik Saha), Uttarakhand (Pushkar Singh Dhami), Goa (Pramod Sawant) and Sikkim (Prem Singh Tamang) addressed the delegates. Two deputy chief ministers who also hold the home portfolio, Maharashtra’s Devendra Fadnavis and Nagaland’s Y Patton, attended the session.
Chhattisgarh was represented by home minister Tamradhwaj Sahu and Meghalaya by its home minister Lakhmen Rympui. Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha addressed the delegates.
Seeking additional funds for the modernisation of the state Police force from the Centre, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the role of police in a democratic society is entirely different from that of a colonial regime. Kerala has adopted a policy of zero-tolerance against custodial violence and torture, said the CM adding that the state is striving to create a service-oriented and citizen-friendly police force.
‘Junior mantris represent CMs’
Non-BJP state governments deputed either the directors-general of police and an additional chief secretary or a lesser minister to attend the two-day conclave which is scheduled to hold in-depth discussions on cyber and information security