In his illustrious career he has been awarded the Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Service 1996 and the President’s Medal for Distinguished Services 2004. Mr. Mathur has also been assigned foreign assignments such as Weikfield Command Course London in 1996 and MCTP London 2010. Mr. Mathur has avid interest in drawing and painting, quiz and writing. Eastern Panorama’s Executive Editor Mr. Harsh Jhunjhunwala recently met Mr. Mathur and had a brief interview with him regarding his role in NEPA and his police service. The following are excerpts of that interview.

EP: Please tell us about NEPA.

AKM: When the Government of India set up the police commission, The police commission recommended that there should be regional institutions to look after the need of regions and as per that commission’s recommendation a committee was set up which recommended the setting up of the North East Regional Institution. Then North East Police Academy was set up under that provision on the recommendation of that committee, Initially it was called a college but now it is called NEPA. Initially it was under the DoNER Ministry under NEC and now it is under MHA. It conducts basic training of Dy SPs and SI of all the states including Sikkim. Assam has its own academy in Dergaon so they do not send any of their officers here for basic training.

Besides basic training we also conduct a number of in-service courses throughout the year where all the ranks including senior ranks of IG , DIG , SP also come from all over India. In- service courses are open for all the states of India. Besides that last year we had trained 73 Uttrakhand SIs who were inducted. We had provided them with basic training for three months in Hind as per the requirement. We run courses on almost all the subjects relating to police work including computer training.

EP: Is there any modernization plan for NEPA?

AKM: We are getting a lot of infrastructure. You must have seen that buildings are coming up. New facilities are coming up and new posts have come up. So new courses will be coming up giving new dimensions of courses which will also be adapted. We are doing whatever is required for training.

EP: Is any research being carried out by you?

AKM: No. At present we are not doing so because we do not have any task at hand and we do not have the staff for that.

EP: It has been said that respect for police is diminishing? Can you comment on this statement?

AKM: Police - public relation is similar to what we have elsewhere. There is nothing special in the north east where we have got good relation with the public. It must depend on the society also. Because the police personnel also come from the same society. Every member of the police personnel brings with him his sub - culture. We also provide good training and have such things as aptitude training besides others where most of the trainees are performing well. If there is a poor image of the Police force it is not because of training, it is largely because of the nature of the job. We perform a thankless job. Very few people appreciate that we have a very tough task to handle rocks of the society. There is harassment, I agree, but that harassment is not due to any particular regional quality. It is all across the nation.

EP: Is the military better or the police better when it comes to tackling insurgency in north east India?

AKM: The military is not meant for internal security. The military’s job is to fight foreign enemies. It is only the police that can handle such things. Military solution is not required there.

EP: What do you have to say about insurgency in Assam and Manipur?

AKM: They have their own reasons. We have a democracy, we have a federalism. People have their aspirations and there are political considerations also.

EP: How do you think this insurgency can be curbed?

AKM: It can be curbed through political will. Let there be political solutions to these problems. Social support and prompt investigation of the cases by the police, good policing and good governance are the keys. When we provide good governance automatically the dissatisfaction among the people will come down.

EP: Is NEPA doing something to bring its cadre closer to the society the likes of which we see the Airforce and other armed forces doing consistently?

AKM: We take them to nearby villages and make them understand how to live happily in the society and make them understand how to respect the society. It is not that you to perform civic action to bring the people into confidence. We are working within the same society we are part of the same society. We are not unknown. Civic action is done by generally paramilitary forces which come from outside like region from Delhi, Harayana to the north east. They want to familiarize themselves and make people feel that they are people friendly. Here, a Khasi boy is an officer so why does he need to impress on the society that he is part of the society? He is very much part of the society. So it is not always required that you should indulge in civic action. Civic action is welcomed.  Yes we help the society
whenever needed. We help society but not as expected of the paramilitary forces.

EP: What are the future plans of NEPA?

AKM: NEPA is expanding. NEPA is taking more and more trainees and our training courses are opening many other fields. Many specialized courses are being run.

EP: What do you think is the role of the media in an insurgency prone area?

AKM: Media is has a very big role to play. The media is something which keeps people aware of things that are happening. Media is a mirror of the society. However, sometime media hypes undue coverage of activities done by terrorist and insurgents and thereby give them mileage. They commit one incident and media repeats it several times giving the impact of it to the public. So instead of once the people are terrorized several times. So media should not project the image of insurgent. They should not give them the privilege that a civilian should get. They use media to reach the people as they have no programs to reach to the people. The media becomes a very handy vehicle for them to reach the people and use their resources against the civilized society and government. To some extent, the media plays into their hands.

EP: A lot of debate has taken place regarding Police forces and their arms. What are your comments on this?

AKM: What are the arms the police need? See ours is need based.  Today we have AK-47s, tomorrow we may need more weapons. So it’s a battle of wits. More and more arms are being purchased every year. We can not have everything in a given time because of the budget restrictions. Terrorist have nothing to do with development. Whatever money they are having they invest in arms and ammunition. We are in a blind race with them. But still we are having sufficiently sophisticated equipment and weapons to deal with any sort of emergency.

EP: Between 20 years back and now, what changes do you see in the police force?

AKM: There are a lot of changes. The Police force is much more modern in outlook, much more modern in its functioning. We have got new trends of crime they are equipped with methods of how to deal with these new trends of crime.

EP: What do you expect for police forces in the future?

AKM: We expect a lot. The Police force is keeping democracy alive. We are keeping the country integrated, keeping the people united. I am proud of being a police officer and I hope the country is also proud of the Indian Police.