“Zero tolerance policy of State Government to crime lays ground for promoting industrial development in Uttar Pradesh”: Union Home Minister

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi along with BJP National President Amit Shah,Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh BJP state President Keshav Maurya at Party organised Parivartan Rally at Ramabai Rally Ground in Lucknow on monday.Express photo by Vishal Srivastav 02.01.2017

Shri Rajnath Singh addresses Uttar Pradesh Investors’ Summit in Lucknow

The Union Home Minister has said the Zero tolerance policy of State Government to crime will lay the ground for promoting industrial development in Uttar Pradesh. Shri Rajnath Singh was addressing the Uttar Pradesh Investors’ Summit in Lucknow today.

Following is the text of the Union Home Minister’s address on the occasion:

“The subject of this plenary session of ‘Uttar Pradesh Investors Summit, 2018’ is both, – crucial and having a direct bearing on the industrial development of the state in particular, and its overall economic development in general.

Although security has multiple aspects, the two most important one of common concern are: the ‘Law and Order’ and ‘Industrial and Infrastructure Security’. Law and Order is the first and foremost priority of any Government, not only for Industrial Development but for anything related to development of a state or a nation. However, an equally important and established fact is that the law and order prevailing in a state is also an important enabler for investment. Investors would not like to risk their capital in any state where Law and Order is a problem.

The other dimension of security with which we are more concerned today is that of Industrial and Infrastructure security.  This security is a kind of insurance on the investment which works as assurance for the investors.  Therefore, industrial and infrastructure security finds mention whenever we talk of investors and investments.

Unfortunately, our police force is either little or are less equipped to deal with the Infrastructure and Industrial security. This subject does find place in public discourse unless a disaster is struck or a vital installation comes under attack.

It was against this background that Government of India raised a specialised force for the very purpose of Industrial and Infrastructure Security in the name of CISF. CISF has remained a premier and specialised force for the last 50 years guarding the nation’s Industrial and Critical Infrastructure.  It has earned several accolades and added a number of achievements to its credit, in this area.

It is indeed a happy coincidence that UP Police is headed by someone who has had experience of working as Director General of CISF.  This must be very reassuring to those who either have invested or are prospective investors in the State of Uttar Pradesh that a person of his caliber is heading the UP Police Force. Few State Governments have raised specialised forces for safeguarding vital installations in the recent years.  UP also has followed the suit.

The edifice of a good Industrial and Infrastructure Security architecture rests on three pillars.  The first is that of physical security, the main objective of which is access control.  This is achieved by ensuring perimeter and campus security through fences, patrolling, sentry post, flood lighting and alarm systems.

The second pillar is that of security of Data and Information.  This aspect has assumed significance in recent years as there are instances where data and information leakages have caused huge damages.  Plugging these leaks is an important aspect of Industrial security.

The third pillar is the Emergency Response System which requires us to prepare a Contingency Plan to be able to respond to any emergency to minimise risk and to mitigate& reduce the extent of loss.  This is very critical to Industrial and Infrastructure Security.

The perceived threats to Industrial and Infrastructure Security till recent times were three dimensional. Cyber Crimes has added the 4th dimension to these threats.

Cyber-crime has posed as the biggest threat to Industrial and Infrastructure Security.  Cyber criminals not only attempt to attack the critical infrastructure but also look for opportunities to hack information and data critical to vital installations.  Therefore, the Government and the industry must put in place a robust Cyber Security Plan.

Government of India, having realized the magnitude of cyber menace, has taken definitive steps to prevent Cyber Crimes.  It is with this objective in mind that MHA has setup a dedicated Division of Cyber Information Security (CIS) in order to meet the challenges being posed by perpetrators of cyber-crimes.

It is not easy to nab cyber criminals as they are capable of committing crimes without actually being present on the spot.  Many a times, these criminals are even sitting at far distances across or beyond territorial borders of our nation.

It is important for every industrial and financial institution to get a cyber security audit done of their installations. It is equally important that the installations get their cyber infrastructure upgraded on a regular basis and also put in specialized and skilled manpower for constant monitoring to prevent any cyber attack.

A recent survey has indicated that only 37 percent industrial companies monitor their tools and equipments and a meager 20 percent indulge in Risk Management on regular intervals.  This rings an alarm bell as 53 percent of these industrial companies have experienced breach of Cyber Security in their installations.

It would be important to mention that Kaspersky Labs, a very renowned company which manufacturers antivirus, rates targeted attack on Industrial Control System as the biggest threat to critical infrastructure.

Efforts are on to put in place adequate critical infrastructure to keep pace with the rapid development in the field of Industrial and Digital Sector in the country.  Our Power Grids, Nuclear Plants, Railway Traffic Systems, Metro Rail Network, Airports, etc together constitute a major chunk of critical infrastructure which run the risk of attack from various terrorist organisations.  Security of critical infrastructure, therefore, is also linked with internal security of any country.

We have a number of examples before us where critical infrastructure of a country has been subject to attack, causing huge losses. In the year 2015, thousands of houses and installations were kept in dark (depriving them of electricity) by attacking Power Grid in Ukraine. In the year 2007, websites of several institutions and organisations were hacked in Estonia.

GoI has set up National Critical Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIPC) in 2014 as the nodal agency to coordinate efforts to strengthen Critical Infrastructure Security Systems in India.  We are trying to further strengthen this organisation in times to come.

Industrial security should be an important concern of the management and the planning for security starts from the blue print stage.  The construction of the plant and the buildings should be designed keeping security features in mind and should leave enough scope for upgrading the security measures, as and when needed.  If the management is lax about security considerations, then the security set up also tends to become lax.

The security force concerned should also have full authority, as they have to impose a number of checks and controls to provide fool proof security.  Laws and rules should be framed to empower the security personnel to implement them, failing which, security measures become ineffective. The security force should be independent of all other departments of the undertaking and function directly under the Chief Executive.

Security should also be cost effective as the Industries are inherently profit oriented.  Unless the expenditure on security is commensurate with the value of the property to be protected, it becomes counterproductive.

The relations between the workers and security personnel must be cordial.   The workers should be made aware of security concern and their co-operation should be sought.  The attitude and behaviour of the security personnel should be helpful and polite towards workers. All preventive measures should be planned meticulously.

Measures taken for prevention of terror attack, sabotage, theft, pilferage, riots and calamities should be planned in advance to avoid any loopholes.  All the controls exercised by the security force over access to installations, movement of materials and vehicles, regulation of processions and demonstrations etc., should be effective and the security force should not be merely ornamental.

Besides, physical safeguarding of Industrial & Infrastructure assets, efforts need to be undertaken to improve regular policing as it plays a very crucial role in attracting investment to any State or the country as a whole.

No country or State can prosper without good law and order situation.  Governments have to invest in making the Police Force modern and professional in order to enable them to tackle all kinds of threat to security of critical Infrastructure and to maintain law and order situation of a State and that of a country as a whole.

You might be aware that the Centre has sanctioned an ambitious scheme of Modernisation of Police Forces with an outlay of Rupees 25,000 crores. While this scheme aims to equip our forces with modern weapons, best of the training modern amenities in order to enable them to fight any threats being posed to our internal security and law and order.  I am very hopeful that this would have a positive impact on Industrial Security scenario for sure.

The mammoth task of Industrial and Infrastructure Security cannot only be taken care by Police Force alone.  Private Sector and Private Security Agencies have to come forward and combine their efforts with that of the Government. Having realised this, Government of India has allowed FDI in this sector.  It would be worthwhile to mention that this sector has immense opportunities to grow manifold in the next few years.  This sector is likely to grow at the rate of 20 percent and is likely to become a business of Rs. 80,000 crores.  This sector has the potential to be the second most employment generating sector.  It would also contribute to the Tax revenue of the country.

The Industrial and Infrastructure development in the India has been witnessing a huge boom and is propelling India’s overall development. With intense focus from Government for initiating policies that would ensure time-bound creation of world class infrastructure in the country, it is expected that India will require investments of over US$ 4.5 trillion by 2040 for the development of its infrastructure, according to the Economic Survey 2017-18. The industrial sector backed by India’s strong manufacturing activities has the potential to touch US$ 1 trillion by 2025. Moreover, the digital revolution that the country is witnessing is also contributing towards a new era of service sector in the country.

I would like to congratulate Shri Yogi Adityanath under whose leadership the State Government with its zero tolerance to crime and criminals in the state, is committed as per its Industrial Investment and Employment Promotion Policy 2017 to provide safety and security to the industries in the state. As per the policy, dedicated police force headed by specialised officer will be deputed at industrial clusters/ areas and integrated police cum fire station will also be established in major industrial clusters/ areas. Emergency response facilities like Dial 100, CCTV cameras, smart technologies adopted by the State Police etc. are ensuring investor confidence.

Uttar Pradesh is a land of infinite opportunities and it has the potential of being the growth engine of India.  Lying along the fertile plains of Ganges with highest irrigated land in the Country, the state of Uttar Pradesh has very hard working populace. They have the talent and ability to race ahead of anyone, if given right opportunities. You will be glad to know that approximately 12 crore people in Uttar Pradesh are in Working Age Group. This gives the state unique proposition to reap maximum demographic dividend.

The State is strategically located on the golden quadrilateral, and has largest rail network in the country spanning over 8,949 km making it an ideal location for production, warehousing and transportation activity.  The population of over 200 million provides one of the largest prospective consumer bases in the world.Once, Uttar Pradesh was considered as front runner State of India. Due to various reasons, state lagged behind and lost its lead position. Now, again we are witnessing the turnaround in fortunes of Uttar Pradesh. In view of the data available today, Uttar Pradesh has double digit growth (13.9%). As 16.5% of the India’s population lives in this state of Uttar Pradesh, for investors in addition to immense investing opportunities, there is a huge market potential. In addition, Uttar Pradesh is also one of the top 5 Manufacturing States of India.

The Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative been appreciated globally and we are seeing huge investments coming to India. In Uttar Pradesh there is availability of cheap skilled labour and it provides a big incentive to investors on opening manufacturing plants in the state.

Ministry of Home Affairs has liberalised the Arms Rules to boost “Make in India” manufacturing policy of the Government as also to promote employment generation in the field of manufacturing of arms and ammunition in the country. The liberalised rules will apply to licences granted by MHA for small arms & ammunition and licences granted by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under powers delegated to them, for tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, defence aircrafts, space crafts, warships of all kinds, arms and ammunition and allied items of defence equipment other than small arms. I am extremely happy to know that the Government of Uttar Pradesh is planning for ‘Defence Production Corridor’ in Bundelkhand region. This will not only generate employment for the youth in Uttar Pradesh but also boost India’s defence production.

I am delighted today to note that the State of UP is putting in concerted efforts to reach out to investors and attracting investment by providing a conducive investment climate for investors. Development has never found mention in this State in the last 14 years during the previous dispensations but development has made a big-bang entry with this Investors Summit.

This Investor forum is the apt forum to remove all doubts of prospective investors, if they have any.  I would also assure that the Government of India would extend all support to the endeavour of State Government.”

-Ministry of Home Affairs.

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