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Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented the President's Colour to the Goa Police at a ceremony in Panaji. The award recognised the force's more than eight decades of service, courage and dedication. He also announced some new policing initiatives for Goa.
Key Highlights
- The President's Colour was given to the Goa Police for its long service, discipline and professional work. Shah also paid tribute to police personnel who lost their lives while on duty — Balaram Shinde, Abhishek Sher, Shailesh Gaonkar and Vishwas B. Deykar.
- The Goa Police has introduced an AI-based call agent for the cybercrime helpline 1930. It will initially support Konkani, Marathi and Hindi, and is planned to cover all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.
- The response time of the 112 emergency helpline has come down from 18 minutes to 8 minutes. Around 20,000 calls have already received quick assistance, with a target of reducing the response time to less than 6 minutes.
- Shah highlighted the Tourist Police Wing as a good model for other states that receive a large number of tourists.
- In implementing the three new criminal laws, Goa currently ranks 2nd nationally with 93.38% progress. The state's conviction rate also increased from 23% to 53% in one year.
- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has prepared a 2026–29 roadmap to strengthen the fight against narcotics, with the Goa Police expected to play an important role.
- The Goa Police has also been asked to prepare for the International Police Sports Championship 2029, which will be hosted by India.
Static Facts
- President's Colour (Nishaan): It is one of the highest honours given to a military unit or police force for distinguished service. It is presented by the President.
- Three new criminal laws: BNS, BNSS and BSA replaced the IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act from 1 July 2024.
- 1930 Cybercrime Helpline: It is operated under the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Eighth Schedule: It contains 22 languages recognised by the Constitution of India.
