It’s a fact that many families still try to instil the fear of police in their children by scaring them into submission with the oft-repeated words, “Police pakad ke le jaaega”. Naturally, such children will grow up fearing the police and, as a result, will be hesitant about approaching them for help even in times of need.
Understanding this fact, East Champaran SP Dr. Kumar Ashish, IPS had started an initiative when he was posted in Kishanganj that aimed to establish friendly relations between the police force and children and their parents. It was hugely successful, and the officer now plans to start the same initiative in his current place of posting, East Champaran.
He has named the initiative, ‘SP ki Pathshala’, and he explained the programme in detail when Indian Masterminds got in touch with him.
SP KI PATHSHALA
SP ki Pathshala is a programme to educate the younger generation of our society. SP Kumar Ashish says that he wanted to get them into the mainstream of police and show how their administration functions so that children know how they can be helpful to them whenever they are in need.
“If from a very early age, kids are made to understand about the work we do, the way we carry out our work, then we can control crime in the future. Through this programme, children will also understand how they will be helpful for administration and, also, how they can take help from the administration and police in case of need.”
He rues the fact that children are taught that police will take them away from their parents, but they are never taught that a police officer can be a friend as well. In times of emergency, it is the police who can be helpful.
OTHER OBJECTIVES
Another objective of the initiative is to reach to the parents through the children, so that parents also understand that police is there to help them whenever they need them.
“Apart from this, we also give career guidance to children. We try to guide them about traffic and other small things through which we can control crime in future,” the officer said.
SCHOOL VISIT
Mr. Ashish also informed that he and his team used to visit nearby schools in Kishanganj, preferably government schools, regularly.
“We visited the nearby schools either on weekends or whenever we get time. We also carried things like pencil, eraser, sharpener with us so that if any kid asks any question or gives an answer, then we can hand it to them as a token of appreciation.”
He says there is an advantage when they handover these small stuff to the kids. “The kids go home and show that pencil to their parents which create a good image of the police. It also promotes public-friendly policing. The kids also remember us and the things we taught them.”
Under this initiative, SP Ashish and his team had also organised sports competition, painting competitions with the limited resources they had. “Some kids made my portrait during a sketching competition and gifted it to me. It was a really a nice experience and I was touched by the kids’ gesture,” Mr. Ashish shared.
DURG AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Mr. Ashish was in news for starting a drug awareness campaign in Kishanganj. He says that through his SP ki Pathshala initiative, he and his team also made school children aware about drugs and the evil consequences. He has also been conferred with the Excise Medal (Only SP in Bihar) by the Chief Minister of Bihar on 26th November, 2021 for his campaign against drugs in Bihar.
“We put addicts in Nasha Mukti Kendra and counselled them. We will soon start this initiative in East Champaran as well, as drug consumption has increased widely in the state.”
FEEDACK
The IPS officer further says that their initiative received a very good response in Kishanganj, and the entire team used to feel rejuvenated after spending some time with kids.
“As the new SP of East Champaran, I have started this initiative here as well but not in a full-fledged manner. Gradually, it will be launched on a full scale here also.”
