The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Parivartan’ ushering a change in policing

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Sunday, Aug 31, 2008
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‘Parivartan’ ushering a change in policing

Staff Reporter

Now women constables to man the beats on a regular basis

NEW DELHI: “Parivartan”, a pioneering effort of the Delhi police by virtue of which women constables were for the first time given the task of manning the beats on a regular basis, was extended to 13 beats in the North District on Friday to mark the third anniversary of the innovative programme.

The programme now stands extended to a total of 53 beats in North-West, Outer and North districts of the Northern Range.

Conceived and launched on August 29, 2005 in the wake of rising trend of crime against women between 2001 and 2005, the programme has considerably brought down the incidence of violence against women, especially cases of criminal assault.

Spelling out the highlights of the programme, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sagar Preet, said: “Parivartan not just provides counselling and guidance to the women and children through its women beat constables, as the ambassadors of change, but it has also created a feeling of empowerment among the women ranks of the force. The communication has been through different channels and is aimed at building trust and confidence among the masses to counter, detect and prevent crime against women and children.”

“The programme has been reviewed several times in the past three years and some additions and deletions have been affected based on the advice of senior police officers and civil society workers and on the basis of feedback obtained from the masses. It continues to enjoy the support and critical acclaim of civil society organisations as well as scholars of crime, law, gender, social work, sociology, clinical psychology and management studies,” said Dr. Sagar Preet, the brain behind the programme.

Since its inception, the programme has been recognised by International Association of Chiefs of Police for quality law enforcement and awarded the prestigious Webber Seavey Award-2006. Later it won appreciation from the Gender Institute of the London School of Economics and Political Science for its innovative methodology and sharp focus.

In 2007, it was awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certificate which shows that the procedures followed by the programme are standardised and of high quality.

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