Address by Governor at the Closing Ceremony of the 30th Maharashtra State Police Games 2018 at, Navi Mumbai

Address by Shri Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra at the Closing Ceremony of the 30th Maharashtra State Police Games 2018 at Police Headquarters, Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai at 1630 hrs on Thursday, 11th January 2018

Shri Satish Mathur, Director General of Police, Smt Mathur, Shri Hemant Nagarale, Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai, senior police officers, all the participants of the Police Games, police personnel, family members of police personnel, invitees, ladies and gentlemen,

सर्व प्रथम आपणा सर्वांना नवीन वर्षाच्या तसेच मकर संक्रांतीच्या शुभेच्छा देतो.

आज येथे, आपणा सर्वांना भेटून, खूप आनंद वाटला.

तिसाव्या राज्य पोलीस क्रीडा स्पर्धेत विविध पदके आणि पारितोषिके प्राप्त करणाऱ्या सर्व स्पर्धकांचे मी मनःपूर्वक अभिनंदन करतो आणि शुभेच्छा देतो.

I am indeed happy to associate myself with the Closing Ceremony of the 30th Maharashtra State Police Games. I hope you have had a memorable tournament during the past few days.

At the outset, I convey my appreciation and compliments to the Director General of Police Shri Satish Mathur for maintaining the tradition of hosting the Annual Police Games. I understand that Navi Mumbai Police took great pains for creating the ground for hosting the Police Games. I congratulate the Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai, the Organizing Secretary of the Games and all senior officers and personnel for their unstinted efforts in organizing the games.

Brothers and Sisters,

All of us are aware that the job of police has become demanding and challenging because of the tremendous pressure of work and the ever growing challenges before the State.

The police games offer a welcome break, at least to the sportspersons, from among the police, from their otherwise hectic schedule.

The performance of the Maharashtra police in National Police Sports Competitions and at the World Police Games was impressive. I was also impressed to know that the State Police force has 2 Arjun Awardees and 18 Shiv Chhatrapati Awardees. That’s indeed creditable.

I understand that more than 2500 police personnel took part in this year’s Police Games. I was happy to note that a significant number of women registered their participation in the event.

I congratulate each one of you, especially to individuals and teams who have won medals in various events.

I want to see the sportspersons from Maharashtra Police making it to the State and the National sporting events with their consistently good performance.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Police is rightly regarded as the face of the Government. They have a direct role and responsibility in maintaining law and order in the State. Maharashtra has maintained its reputation of being the most progressive State in the country. The State is a leader in the manufacturing as well as the services sector. The State also tops the chart of States attracting highest foreign direct investment. This has been possible largely because of the law and order and peace maintained by the State Police, the credit of which, goes to each one of you.

Among all States, Maharashtra has borne the maximum brunt of terrorist – inflicted violence. The nation cannot forget the bravery, courage and sacrifices of our valiant police officers and personnel, displayed during the 26 /11 terrorist attacks. Our police have also dealt effectively with the menace of Naxalism in some districts of the State.

However, new challenges to law and order often come from unexpected quarters. The recent violent incidents in the aftermath of the memorial meeting at Bhima Koregaon have underlined the need for greater vigilance.

I wish to congratulate Maharashtra Police for its remarkable work in containing the situation with their smart thinking and effective handling.

Social media has come as a major challenge for the police force all over the world. Social media has the potential to divert the attention of the entire society from developmental issues and from the problems of people.

Social media is therefore often misused to spread lies and incite the sentiments of the people by posting harmful and objectionable video and audio contents. As of now, there is no control over the contents of social media.

In the past, and I believe, even today, the police take the help of ‘informers’ to prevent crime, seek intelligence and to nab culprits.

In today’s age of cyber crime and crimes committed using social media, the police must raise a team of ‘cyber informers’. These cyber informers will collect cyber intelligence and alert the police about the developments taking place in social media. It will help the police detect and prevent the crimes well in time.

Friends,

The population of Maharashtra has surpassed 11.23 Crore. This means, the size of the population of our State alone is roughly equivalent to the population of Germany, Australia and New Zealand put together. However the size of the police force is relatively small.

Needless to say, Maharashtra needs an advanced, professional and well-equipped police force. We will have to use technology to overcome the shortage of manpower wherever possible. Most importantly, we will need smart policing.

Thought should be given to organizing in-service training programme for all police personnel once in 3 years. It will help to update the knowledge of police personnel and enable them to acquire new skills.

As Governor, I do feel that there should be zero-tolerance towards crimes against, women, children, differently-abled persons and tourists.

We must involve youths and volunteers in our efforts to curb crimes against women. We must also sensitize school children on these issues.

Among all government servants, the police personnel are facing maximum health issues. We will have to maintain our police force in the best and fittest condition. I will call upon the State Police to seek the cooperation of Corporates to create gymnasiums in all police stations in the State. Police personnel must also be encouraged to attend Yoga Workshops and Vipassana session at least once in two years. This will help them rejuvenate and manage mental stress.

I am happy that the State Government is giving highest priority to the welfare of police personnel. Let us all strive to make Maharashtra the best and safest State in the entire country.

Maharashtra police has the reputation of being one of the most professional and dedicated police forces in the entire country. Such reputation is not earned in a single day. It has been built with hard work, honesty and dedication by successive police officers and personnel. We will have to uphold and further enhance this reputation through our collective work.

With these words, I congratulate the Maharashtra Police for successfully conducting the 30th Annual Police Games. I congratulate all the winners and participants once again and wish you all success in your future endeavours.

Jai Hind ! Jai Maharashtra !!

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