In many of Madhya Pradesh’s slum settlements, a young girl’s future was often decided long before she could dream for herself.
At 14 or 15, many girls were pulled out of school and pushed into early marriages. Domestic violence was seen as a private family matter. Harassment, stalking, and abuse often went unreported because families had little faith that the system would stand by them.
For boys, the challenges looked different but were equally concerning. A lack of opportunities, exposure to drugs, violence, and negative social influences pulled many towards a dangerous path.
The COVID-19 pandemic deepened these problems. With schools shut, incomes collapsing, and community support systems weakening, vulnerable children became even more exposed to child labour, trafficking, abuse, and exploitation.
It was during this period that the Madhya Pradesh Police realised that crime prevention could not depend only on catching offenders. It had to begin much earlier: inside communities, among young people, and through trust.
Leading this change was IPS officer Vineet Kapoor, a 2010-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre officer, currently serving as Deputy Inspector General of Police for Community Policing. Under his leadership, a simple but powerful idea took shape — Srijan, a community policing programme that would not just protect young people but empower them to shape their own future.
Also read: How IPS Vineet Kapoor Helped Spark a Statewide Awakening Against Drugs in Madhya Pradesh
THE QUESTION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
The seeds of Srijan were planted while the police were already working with Shakti Samitis, groups of women volunteers from vulnerable communities who acted as a bridge between the police and local residents.
During interactions with these women, one message repeatedly came forward: their daughters needed opportunities, confidence, and awareness.
“Crime prevention would not just happen through coercive actions taken on criminals. That is one thing. But women should feel safe also,” recalls IPS Vineet Kapoor while speaking exclusively to Indian Masterminds.
Safety perception surveys conducted by the police confirmed the concerns. Particularly among urban poor communities, girls lacked confidence to access public spaces, were unaware of their legal rights, and had very little connection with institutions designed to protect them.
The answer was not another awareness session. It required a sustained relationship between the police and adolescents.
In 2021, on International Women’s Day, Kapoor interacted with women’s self-help groups and members of Shakti Samitis. Their demand was clear: educate our daughters and help them become independent.
That conversation became the foundation of Srijan.
A SMALL CAMP THAT STARTED A BIG MOVEMENT
The first experiment began in Bhopal’s Jatkhedi area with the support of a local NGO that already had strong roots in the community through anganwadi centres and women’s groups.
Around 125 girls participated in a three-week camp where they received legal awareness, knowledge about their rights, personality development sessions, health and hygiene education, mental well-being guidance, and martial arts training.
Even basic necessities became a collective effort. Some girls did not even have shoes to participate in physical training, so local organisations stepped forward to provide support.
The transformation after the camp was impossible to ignore.
“After we finished the programme, we saw the girls beaming with confidence. They came up with so many issues and started contacting the police to report cases like stalking, domestic violence, and other crimes,” says Kapoor.
The girls did not stop with reporting problems. They began spreading awareness among other women in their neighbourhoods, questioning practices that had been accepted for generations.
They started telling victims of domestic violence, “Why are you accepting violence? It is a crime.”
For communities where silence had become normal, this change was extraordinary.
WHEN GIRLS ASKED FOR THEIR BROTHERS TO JOIN
The programme’s next major shift came from the girls themselves. During a follow-up meeting, they made an unexpected request: include their brothers too.
They told the police that many boys in their neighbourhoods were wandering without direction, getting exposed to drugs, abusive behaviour, and unhealthy ideas of masculinity.
The police listened.
Srijan evolved from a girls’ safety initiative into a youth-centred programme involving both girls and boys between 13 and 19 years of age, maintaining a balance of approximately 70% girls and 30% boys.
Boys were trained not just in self-defence and discipline but also in respectful behaviour, responsibility at home, and understanding gender equality.
“Masculinity among boys was often equated with drug use, abusing others, and teasing women. We started teaching them respect — respect for their mothers, helping with household work, and understanding women’s contribution,” Kapoor explains.
A 15-DAY JOURNEY FROM FEAR TO CONFIDENCE
Today, Srijan operates as an intensive 15-day programme conducted at the police station level with the support of 55 NGO partners and multiple government departments.
The curriculum includes legal literacy, child rights, prevention of child marriage, self-defence, life skills, personality development, career counselling, sports activities, mental and physical health awareness, and vocational exposure.
The journey does not end after the camp.
Community Police Response Teams conduct regular follow-ups. Fortnightly meetings maintain the connection between adolescents, police officers, and community leaders. Through the Police Didi initiative, women police personnel act as mentors and elder sisters to young girls.
The police station, once a place many families avoided, has become a place where young people seek advice, support, and protection.
A MODEL THAT CHANGED THOUSANDS OF LIVES
What began in just 15 slum communities in Bhopal in 2022 has now expanded to 36 districts across Madhya Pradesh after statewide adoption through DGP orders in November 2024.
The impact has been significant. Independent evaluations found over a 90% reduction in child marriages in targeted communities. Crimes against women in Bhopal dropped by 23% between 2021-22 and 2022-23. School dropout rates among girls declined, and many who were once at risk of early marriage are now pursuing higher education and even preparing to join the police force.
The initiative has earned recognition from the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the Supreme Court’s Juvenile Justice Committee, UNICEF, UN Women, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which honoured Madhya Pradesh Police with its 2024 Leadership Award in Community Policing for Large Police Services.
In 2025, Srijan was also presented before the Hon’ble Prime Minister at the DG-IG Conference.
But perhaps its greatest achievement cannot be measured through awards or statistics.
A girl who once hesitated to walk alone in her neighbourhood now knows her rights, can defend herself, and dreams of wearing the police uniform one day.
That is the real transformation Srijan set out to create: not just safer communities, but a generation that believes it has the power to change its own future.
