“If any children cannot come to school, we will take the school to them.” That’s the level of determination of Indore Police to ensure education reaches to all sections of children. They have started an initiative called ‘Aas on Wheels’ (Hope on Wheel), whereby, a van goes to slum areas to teach the children living there, so that they, at least, get a basic education. Besides study material, the van also carries sports equipment for the children. This way, the little children have been warming up to the police personnel who come in the van and have started interacting with them freely.
Another good thing of this whole exercise is that the police are now able to get information about any crimes against the children, from time to time. To help in this regard, a Childline team is also always present in the van.
Indian Masterminds interacted with 1997-batch IPS officer Manisha Pathak Soni, Additionel DCP, Indore (HQ), Madhya Pradesh, to know more about this innovative initiative.
SCHOOL ON WHEELS
It was started three months back to make education accessible to every child, especially for those children who are not able to go to school. Now, in a way, the school itself is coming to them. Indore Police and Childline and ACG Group are working collaboratively on this.
A van named ‘Aas On Wheel’ that contains all the necessary things related to the education of the children and even sports items goes to those places where children of the area do not go to school for various reasons. Generally, these are slum areas or those areas where there is no facility for children to play. The van stops here and the sight of it makes the children very happy.
“The van goes to such areas and stays for a few hours. Besides providing education, we also provide them a chance to play with our sports equipment. We also gift them stationery items. Seeing how happy it makes the children, we are now planning to add more vans to reach more areas,” Ms. Soni said.
PURPOSE OF THE MOBILE VAN
The mobile van has been provided by ACG (Advance Capsule Group) Care Foundation to the Indore Police’s Childline branch, AAS. It is well equipped with educational materials, toys, and sports equipments for entertaining and informative activities for children from the deprived sections of society.
The idea is to spread education through a medium of fun from a running school and bring the children to the mainstream of society.
AWARNESS AGAINST CHILD CRIME
Ms. Soni further informed Indian Masterminds that a police team that accompanies the van also makes the children aware of the crimes that can occur against them. “Indore Police has a community policing and awareness team, which goes with the van. A Childline team is also present and so are child welfare officers from police stations. They make children aware about the kind of crimes that can happen against them and also about good touch-bad touch. They also tell them to call at the Childline number 1098 should any problem arise,” Ms. Soni said.
In this way, crimes against the children can be controlled. At the same time, fear of the police will also go away from the children’s minds and they will start considering the police as their friend. “When they see the police come and play with them, they start viewing police in a new light. In this way, they will form a correct opinion about the police, that the police are actually there to stop all wrongdoings and help them,” Ms. Soni said.
ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE
The response to this initiative has been very good, going by the children’s enthusiasm and happy looks on seeing the van. Ms. Soni said, “When the van goes for the first time, they do not understand what it is and how it works. But when the van reaches their place for the second time, their excitement is worth watching!”
