On every traffic signal of the country, one thing that you’re certain to find is little kids begging for some money. In Noida, the vast industrial and residential township in the neighborhood of Delhi, a fresh start has been made to find the root of this perennial problem and help the kids and their families out of this miserable state of affairs.
The officer leading the drive is Noida’s DCP (in charge of women and children), Ms. Vrinda Shukla. She is a 2014-batch IPS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre. In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, she describes how she dealt with various issues across Noida and her initiatives to make the lives of people easier- especially the children.
RAISING AWARENESS AGAINST CHILD BEGGING
Ms. Shukla started out by mapping the entire area to figure out if they were a part of any organization pushing children into begging. But that wasn’t the case in Noida. She found out that kids lived in slum colonies nearby. She went on to identify the major slums that these kids were coming from.
“We went to those slums to warn the families that this is not what their children should be doing and also motivated them about the need for education. We told them firmly that the next time we find the child begging, action will be taken against the parents” Ms. Shukla told Indian Masterminds.
The parents told the officer that they wanted to send their kids to schools, but could not because schools were closed due to the Covid19 situation. To solve this issue, Ms. Shukla appointed two teachers at every slum, so the children could start receiving basic education. In this way, they would also be away from petty crimes and begging.
“We get support in CSR. I spoke to a few companies and they offered to help us out. A lot of NGOs also came forward. Volunteers working at places partnered with us and now, we have sort of become a coordinating platform. Our anti-human trafficking unit will coordinate the whole effort” says Ms. Shukla.
STANDING UP FOR YOUNG RAPE VICTIMS
Ms. Shukla started counseling child rape victims who felt ashamed to face the world after the shocking treatment meted out to them. She took a team of five lady police personnel, trained by excellent psychiatrists and psychotherapists from well-known hospitals. This team visits each child victim and their families and takes a care package along with them. The package consists of a colorful schoolbag filled with art books, coloring books, and a big pouch of stationary. This helps in breaking the ice with the child and they motivate them to vent out whatever negativity may be harboring regarding what happened to them and then encourage them to move forward.
“We counseled their families, siblings, and neighbors who used to shame the little victims. At times, the condition is quite bad with the victim, so we take the child to get professional counseling, in our own vehicle. This eases the family’s worries about transportation. We then take part in all the medical follow-ups” Ms. Shukla said.
MISSION ‘SHAKTI’
Ms. Shukla is part of the massive awareness drive through which she is trying to empower women regarding the knowledge of government services for women, and how they could avail these. It comes under the umbrella of Mission ‘Shakti’ (Power), but Ms. Shukla has been doing it before.
She spread awareness amongst women to use the helpline number – 112 when cases of domestic violence were at an all-time high during the lockdown. Under this, if a lady calls saying that she’s facing domestic violence, a police vehicle goes to their place and takes the necessary action.
“We launched a follow-up service and made sure to follow up after a week, and if the violence was still pertaining, we guided them until the situation improved. We called the respective stations and even wrote their application for them. It’s a successful initiative and we’ve covered about 7000 women till now” she told Indian Masterminds.
JAGRUKTA VAHAN
Ms. Shukla launched a ‘Jagrukta Vahan’ (awareness vehicle) where she put a giant LED screen on it. On this screen runs a short film of 5-6 minutes that she recorded with her colleagues, where they shared important information regarding the protection, safety, and empowerment of women.
“We told them to not accept physical beatings, and if they don’t wish to file a case, they should at least call 112 so that help for them arrives. We told them about different ways through which we could come to their assistance without registering a case” she added.
The ‘Vahan’ was sent everywhere, in every nook and corner of the city and to the slums. “It got a really overwhelming response because women gathered in big numbers and would clap after it got over. Lady Personnel would even test them later about what they understood” she said.
‘SWAYAM SIDDHA’
Ms. Shukla also launched a women-patrolling team called ‘Swayam Siddha’. Through this, she took feedback from the public, especially women, by way of WhatsApp, Twitter, email, and ‘Mahila Choupal’ (women gatherings).
The aim was to know from women themselves where they feel insecure; and after gathering the information, the ‘Swayam Siddha’ teams of police officials start patrolling these areas more frequently to make women feel safer.
