The G20 summit should be “effectively utilized for image building” of Indian Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed all the state police chiefs. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has also been intimated about the task and a report has been sought as to what efforts have been taken so far in this regard, CNN-News18 has learnt.
The 18th Group of 20 (G20) summit will take place in September 2023 in New Delhi. Since December 2022, when India’s G20 presidency began, multiple events have already been held in several states including Kerala, Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir.
The main event, to be held in New Delhi in September, will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India is expected to host thousands of delegates during the main event who are likely to visit tourist spots across the country.
As preparations for the G20 summit in New Delhi and other states are in full swing including the beautification of areas surrounding summit venues, police departments from different states have been tasked with rebranding their force for an image makeover.
In order to understand the changes that are being incorporated for “image building”, CNN News18 spoke to senior police officers involved in the rebranding of the police in the national capital where the main G20 event will be held.
Officers, who wished not to be named, told CNN News18 that from training the ‘tourist police’ staff in English to introducing brand new Emergency Response Vehicles and from renovating police stations in the vicinity of G20 summit venues to increasing the frequency of patrol vehicles, Delhi Police has introduced a series of new changes.
“352 new vehicles have been inducted for deployment in the New Delhi district where a majority of G20 events will be held. The number of tourist police vans has been increased and its staff has been trained to speak and understand fluent English. Some of the police stations in the vicinity of the G20 event venues will also undergo a face-lift. The police control room vans of the emergency response vehicles are being rebranded with a new look. These vans will initially be deployed only in six zones but will eventually be introduced to the remaining ones,” said a senior police officer, aware of the developments.
On the security front, another officer said the number of anti-terror ‘Parakram’ vans is also being increased and the security commandos will don a new uniform.
“Our Scorpio SUVs will do more intensified patrolling to keep an eye on street crime. Two new helplines, one for the tourists (8750871111 ) and the other one, eyes and years (14547), have also been set up to report any crime in anonymity,” the officer added.
CNN News18 also reached out to the Uttar Pradesh police department, which claims to have the largest police force in the country, in order to find out if similar changes are being introduced, but no response was received.
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