Senior Superintendent of Police of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, IPS officer Abhishek Yadav continuously comes up with unique and creative ideas to bring comfort and ease to his police staff. His decision to establish new police ‘chowkis’, complete with luxurious facilities, garnered him several accolades. His steps to conserve the biodiversity of the district also gained him praises from his personnel as well as the public.
Keeping up with his own legacy, the officer has come up with a new and distinctive idea that will help the children of police staff in gaining appropriate knowledge. In a conversation with Indian Masterminds, the officer talks about the same.
POLICE LIBRARY
After making arrangements like Police café, Gyms, Weekly off, Washing Machines, Hot water facilities, clean beds with closets, etc. for his staff, the 2012 batch officer has now come up with a library, packed with over a thousand books in different genres, for the children of the police staff.
“We believe that books offer exposure to the richness, beauty, and brilliance of this world to all of us, in a manner that is incomparable to anything else. And this exposure is direly missing in the children of police personnel due to the lack of well-stocked libraries, which should be easily and cheaply accessible to them,” Mr. Yadav told Indian Masterminds.
Keeping this in mind, the SSP of Muzaffarnagar inaugurated its very own Police Library for the staff as well as their children and family members.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LIBRARY
The library is stocked with more than 1000 books from varied subjects such as school education, competitive exams, finance, health & fitness, self-help, autobiographies and biographies, spiritual, fiction (both Hindi and English), Inspirational and others.
In this era of online learning, Mr. Yadav made sure to install equipment in the library that will help the children learn and enjoy the many advantages of the internet.
“The Library also has an E-Learning Center with four desktops that allows free access to internet to those interested in studying online or pursuing Massive Open Online Courses(MOOCs),” he pointed out.
LIBRARY MEMBERSHIP
Policemen and their family members can go to the library to read newspapers and magazines. Since the Wi-Fi facility is installed in the library, children can participate in online classes from there as well. Entry into the library is free of cost.
“The access to library, reading there and e-learning center is free. There is a membership card with a monthly fee of Rs 50/- if you want to issue a book and take it with you,” said Mr. Yadav.
INAUGURATION BY A KID
Instead of inaugurating the library himself or calling some minister to do it, which is the usual tradition, Mr. Yadav decided to get the library inaugurated by the one for whom it’s meant to be. The Library was inaugurated by Prakriti who studies in Class III and is the daughter of Sh. Rajesh Singh, a UP Police Head Constable posted in Muzaffarnagar.
Says the officer, “A lot of police personnel prepare for competitive exams while working and we have tried to create a storehouse of books to aid them in that process and also provide them a space to study peacefully since barracks are rarely quiet or peaceful.”
Mr. Yadav put his heart and soul into making the library, which is evident from its photographs. It does not look like a random library made in a musty room and stacked with dust-laden books. Instead, it gives the vibe of a privately owned corporate library, having the best interiors, decor, facilities, and stacked with the best books.
