While growing up in the beautiful mountains of Munnar, Kerala, Reema Rajeshwari only dreamt of the world just as beautiful. In her childhood, she used to be excited while reading the stories of IAS and IPS officers. At that time only she decided to crack this tough exam and get into civil services. After entering into IPS, she is now changing the face of policing through her small efforts. She is one of the few officers who go beyond their call of duty to revamp the society. She believes in restoring empathy and sensitivity towards the people and victim. The 2009 batch officer of Telangana cadre is currently the SP of Jogulamba Gadwal district.
Getting in IPS
Ms. Rajeshwari comes from a middle-class family of Kerala. Like most people, she did her graduation and started a job as a software engineer. However, she was not getting satisfaction from her job. So, she quit the job and came to Delhi for preparation of Civil Services Exams.
No one in her family was happy with her decision but Ms. Rajeshwari was firm about her choice. She found a part-time job in Delhi to live on her own. After year-long hard work, she was selected for IPS in 2009.
She proved her mettle in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) itself where she was adjudged the best cadet officer in her batch. She was trained under retired IPS officer Mr. K Vijay Kumar who is famous for gunning down sandalwood smuggler Veerappan.
During the training, she learnt to investigate cyber-crimes besides leading anti-terrorist and anti- maoist operations. Her first assignment was as an Assault Commander with the elite force, ‘Greyhounds’.
Transformed a village school
After getting her first independent posting in Telangana, Ms. Rajeshwari decided to not limit her duties to fighting crimes. Children were close to her so she decided to adopt a village under the ‘Village Adoption Program’ of the government.
After due diligence she adopted a small village -‘Katavaram’. During her research, she found the village’s school was in a dilapidated state. By joining hands with an NGO, Child Caring, her team restored the school building and ensured that the students got access to clean toilets and drinking water. Her efforts bore fruit and number of students soon doubled in the school.
Rescuing child brides and ‘Devdasi’
Being a lady, Ms. Rajeshwari’s heart ached seeing the crime and atrocities against women. During her posting in Mahbubnagar, she rescued around 1200 child brides with the help of some NGOs. She also talked to religious leaders and villagers about the ill effects of child marriage.
Her work for Devdasi or Joginis is also considered among some of the remarkable initiatives by any IPS officer. Though the state and central government has laws against such practices, still, it hasn’t been abolished completely. More than 2000 Joginis were present in Mahbubnagar alone. She rescued those women and helped them to get vocational training courses. She collaborated with Jan Shikshan Sansthan for this initiative.
Sensitizing police for women and fighting fake news
Ms. Rajeshwari was aware about the kind of interrogation is done in a case of violence or assault against women. In an interview she said that women are sometimes so afraid of the questioning process that they refrain to lodge a complaint. To ensure that women speak against the crimes, police has to be sensitive towards them. Keeping this in mind, she implemented a gender sensitizing and empathy program for the police officers and it was a great success.
She also used the ancient ways to create awareness among the people towards the spread of fake news. She collaborated with folk singer and drumers who used to go to villages and tell the people about the implications of spreading fake news. This unique way gave great results and there were no fake -news related killing in her area.
Let’s hope this efficient and tenacious police officer keeps up her good work and restores people’s faith in the police.
