Karnataka willing to be part of nation's emergency system, says Dr G Parameshwar

Bengaluru: Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwar on Saturday assured the union government that the Karnataka police will participate in the proposed setting up of Nationwide Emergency Response System (NERS).

At the 11th meeting of the Inter-State Council in New Delhi, he said, "We propose to implement the system in Bengaluru in the first phase and across the state in later phases.”

On the recommendations on internal security, he said that the states must be consulted on the issue of creation of commission on Criminal Justice and Internal Security. “The state government strongly feels that the deployment of central forces and conferring powers of magistrate should be made only with prior consent of the states concerned," he said.

He pointed out that globalisation and rapid spread of alternative media channels have thrown up fresh challenges. “We are still grappling with the challenges posed by the multi dimensional use of the cyber world. This is not only a law and order issue but an internal security issue. The police force will have to be strengthened and upgraded to face this challenge," he said.

Dr Parameshwar claimed that changing economic factors have led to growing
importance of Coastal Security which is a new role that the state government had
to play. "Our government submitted a proposal to establish Marine India Reserve Battalion in the jurisdiction of Coastal area for which the union government is yet to accord its approval," he charged.

He said that the education policy, which is being formulated, is timely and should now shift the focus from inputs like more schools, teachers, entitlements, etc. to learning achievements under all service providers.

"Education is a shared responsibility and we expect the union government to support the implementation with adequate resources. At the same time, the policy should not get confined to government schools alone. It should also cover national and state institutions, both public and private, and a child’s access to education should be the basis for public funding," he argued.