One of the common problems flagged by common people regarding police personnel is their behaviour, a major reason for public being wary of visiting police stations. Most say that the police do not talk to them properly, and rural folks even complain of being at the receiving end of abusive language.

Knowing this general perception among the public only too well, Delhi Police has taken the initiative to change it by introducing ‘soft skills’ training to its personnel. Commissioner of Delhi Police Rakesh Asthana said that the entire police force will be trained to establish better communication with the public.

For this, Delhi Police has joined a Capacity Building Programme called ‘Mission Karmayogi’ of the central government. After an internal exercise, high rank officers from the department have been selected as ‘master trainers’ to train the entire force. The selected 360 master trainers will be extensively trained by the Centre’s Capacity Building Commission. After that, these trainers will conduct session for about 35,000 frontline policemen in batches and impart training to communicate effectively with the general public.

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We bring you detailed information about this Mission.

MISSION KARMAYOGI

Mission Karmayogi Capacity Building Programme is an ambitious key project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Delhi Police has also been linked to it. Its main objective is to provide soft skills training to the police officers and jawans.

While speaking at the launch of the programme, Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana (1984-batch IPS officer of Gujarat Cadre) said, “It is well known that if the behavior of the police with a victim or a witness in the police station, or on the street, or while handling any case, does not seem good, then no matter how good we are or how best we work, our image cannot improve.”

He also said that in this age of the internet, where it is very easy to spread information, policing has also become more challenging. Hence, it has become all the more important for police to interact directly with the public. Keeping this in mind, Delhi Police has associated itself with the training programme.

“Mission Karmayogi will be a great learning tool. For this, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has taken many initiatives. On his motivation, Delhi Police has adopted this programme. I personally believe that this training will make a big difference in our performance and our public image will become better. Soft skill training will help in the interaction of the police with the public, victim, and the accused. It should be such that no one can point a finger at you,” Mr. Asthana said.

MAJOR OBJECTIVES

The team of Mission Karmayogi consists of very senior and expert officers. Under this programme, police personnel will be trained to improve communication skills and to respond sensitively and quickly to citizens’ calls for help. The objective is to create a pool of trainers specialised in soft skills to train the personnel of Delhi Police. The commission will provide technical and professional support to the officers to create maximum efficiency.

This training course includes changing attitudes, body language skills, coping with adverse situations, cultural sensitivity, overcoming emotions and anti-discriminatory behavior. It is expected that after the training, the behavior of the police will change, sensitivity will increase and, ultimately, the negative attitude about the police force will change.

FIRST LEG STARTED

Union Home Secretary and 1984-batch IAS officer Ajay Bhalla and Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana launched the first leg of the training on 13 July. Terming this plan as a game changer, Mr. Bhalla said that Delhi Police should become a model police force in the next 10 years with such initiatives.

The commission will train the policemen in soft skills and motivate them to be citizen centric through proper response to grievances with a humanitarian aspect. Among those who will receive this training will be policemen from units such as the traffic police, police control rooms and around 200 police stations.

PAST INITIATIVES

Although this is not the first time that the Delhi police is taking such a step it is for the first time that it is being introduced on such a large scale. Last year in October, the Delhi Police Academy, in association with the International Hotel Association, GMR Aviation Academy and Indigo, organised a four-day programme in soft skills training for 380 sub-inspectors. In January 2019, a batch of 17 police personnel underwent training at the iFly Training Center in Gurugram that focussed on the ‘Six S’ – Swagat (welcome), Sampark (contact), Sahanubhuti (empathy), Samman (respect), Sabhyata (civilization), and Samay (timing).

MORE ABOUT MISSION KARMAYOGI

Mission Karmayogi is the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB). It was launched on September 20, 2020 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet. It is meant to reform Indian bureaucracy and prepare civil servants for the future. The programme aims at comprehensive reform of the capacity building apparatus at the individual, institutional and process levels, for efficient public service delivery. The mission intends to lay down foundations for the civil servants’ capacity building, aiming to enhance governance.