The Hindu : New Delhi News : Efforts for a makeover by Haryana Police

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 09, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

Efforts for a makeover by Haryana Police

Kunal Diwan

‘Humane Police for Humane Society’

NEW DELHI: Indians for the most part have tended to view policemen in shades of black and white, a fact reinforced to the hilt through popular cinema where the quintessential cop is portrayed either as a wholesome do-gooder or, in a direct antithesis of the former, a corrupt reincarnation of Devil.

Now a solution to rectify the brash and unhelpful public image of the policeman is being attempted by an agency whose agents perhaps typify the “rude cop” persona.

The Madhuban-based Haryana Police Academy has for the past one year been grilling its cadets in the nuances of culture and gender apart from the customary courses in weaponry and the Criminal Procedure Code.

The brainchild of former Bureau of Police Research and Development Director N. C. Joshi and Haryana Police Academy Director V. N. Rai, the programme was instated to assist a radical makeover in the perspective and public dealing of the police. According to Mr. Rai, it was vital to arrest the prejudices that new entrants to the police forces carried with them. These could be biases of caste, language, gender or region that were to be eliminated at any cost if the force was to perform its duties in a non-partisan manner.

Part of a “Samvedi Police Se Samvedi Samaj” (Humane Police for Humane Society) programme, the new emphasis on issues hitherto alien to the psyche of baton-wielding policemen is supposed to herald in a new and improved outlook in the interaction of the police with the public.

Participating in the ongoing World Book Fair at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, Inspector Ramesh Chandra says cadets at the Academy are made to do stints at old-age homes, orphanages and de-addiction centres to sensitise them to the issues of the marginalised.

Aspiring law enforcement agents are also required to attend music, art, photography and culture classes and encouraged to maintain a healthy, democratic way of life.

A compulsory visit to the library is also an important part of the curriculum.

“It is hoped that emphasising on softer skills will carve out a more humane and understanding personality in future enforcers of the law,” he added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi