Amit Shah honours Puducherry Police, presents President’s Colour for exemplary service to nation

Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented the President’s Colour to Puducherry Police on Sunday and praised the force for its commitment and dedication in ensuring the country’s internal security.

Referring to the Government doing away with British-era criminal laws, including the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Shah said its replacement, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), was enacted with the intention of ensuring justice to citizens.

In his address after presenting the President’s Colour to the Union Territory’s police force, he said the new criminal laws are based on the “three pillars of technology, timeline and trust.”

The President’s Colour is the highest honour given to a military unit or police force of a State or union territory. Past recipients of the honour include the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and various State police departments.

President Droupadi Murmu had announced on May 8 the conferment of the honour on Puducherry police in recognition of its “exceptional service, discipline and distinguished achievements”.

Underlining the Centre’s commitment to the UT’s growth, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision over the last 12 years has been to strengthen it.

To make Puducherry strong, several development initiatives, including investments to the tune of Rs 39,000 crore in the last nine years and road expansion activities worth thousands of crores of rupees, have been taken up, he said.

While the UT received about Rs 3,500 crore in Central fund allocation between 1950 and 2014, the NDA Government provided Rs 13,762 crore during the 2014-26 period to it, he added.

Various Government initiatives, including Lakhpati Didi, Ujjwala and PM Awas schemes, direct benefit transfer and construction of toilets have benefited about seven lakh citizens in Puducherry, he said.

“Puducherry police has received the Nishaan (President’s Colour). In this golden hour, let me assure on PM Modi’s behalf, the Government is committed to the union territory’s development,” Shah underlined.

Shah praised the UT police force for its dedication and commitment to maintaining law and order in Puducherry, which is geographically spread across different states in the south- Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh (Yanam) and Kerala (Mahe). It has been playing a crucial role in the area of internal security for years, he added.

“The President’s flag is the most honourable moment for any police force. Puducherry police may number around 5,000 but has been maintaining the UT’s safety and its internal security. You don’t do it due to any file or order but due to your sense of commitment and dedication.”

“During the challenging COVID-19 scenario, I used to review the situation in States and UTs, and the Puducherry police went the extra mile to serve people — the women and children,” he said.

He described the moment in which Puducherry police received the President’s Colour as a “golden episode” in its history.

He lauded the force on behalf of President Murmu and PM Modi.

Earlier, the HM presented the President’s Colour to the force’s Ensign Officer at an official event held at the Puducherry Armed Police Ground in neighbouring Gorimedu. Shah was accompanied by DGP Shalini Singh.

Lieutenant Governor K Kailashnathan, Chief Minister N Rangasamy and Home Minister A Namassivayam, among others, were present.

Heaping praises on Puducherry and its people, Shah said that despite being under French rule for about 230 years, it has “maintained its Indianness and spiritual energy”. He credited Aurobindo and the Mother for this spiritual energy, which he said has now spread across the country. “Puducherry is the symbol of south Indian culture and spirituality,” he said. Freedom fighter and national poet Subramanya Bharathi’s long residence in Puducherry spread the patriotic fervour “to the Himalayas”. Puducherry police has joined a list of police forces across the country who have been bestowed with the President’s Colour, he added.

In his address, CM Rangasamy expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Ministry for sustained support and for sanctioning funds for the Union Territory Administration.

Felicitating the police personnel on the occasion, he said that the police in the Union Territory had brought laurels both in prevention and detection of crimes and in ensuring a good record of conviction.

Rangasamy said that the presentation of the President’s colour to Puducherry police “is a good recognition of the integrity, dedication and discipline of the men in uniform”.

LG Kailashnathan, who also spoke on the occasion, said that the Centre had approved the setting up of one more unit of India Reserve Battalion (IRBN), an auxiliary police force. Around 1000 youth would be inducted into this second unit.

He appealed to the police to ensure that Puducherry emerged as drug-free in keeping with the plea of the Prime Minister.

He also listed the various schemes the Police Department was implementing in Puducherry to ensure safety and security of the people and particularly the women. 

Director General of Police Shalini Singh listed the performance of the different wings of the police department, including Cyber Crime and law and order.

“Our mission is to ensure that Puducherry is the safest and most secure place for the people and more particularly for the tourists visiting the Union Territory in view of a peaceful environment”, she said.