Despite being busy with policing activities, an IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh has taken a step towards preserving more than hundred-year-old beat record books of all police stations in Muzaffarnagar district. Under the initiative, these historic record books are not only being physically preserved but are also being digitalized to keep a record for posterity.
Mr. Abhishek Yadav, who launched this unique initiative, is a 2012 batch IPS Officer and is currently serving as the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Muzaffarnagar. In an exclusive interview with Indian Masterminds, he discussed about how he came up with this idea and how it is being implemented in the district.
THE IDEA
Mr. Yadav said, “These records are almost 100-115 years old, the oldest FIR registered here in 1906. Since then, the records were being documented and were being taken care of. But with time the paper was getting worse and was in a state of decay.”
He added, “Every village in the district has its own beat record book which is also known as village crime notebook (VCNB). There are a total of 604 such registers in the district where all the criminal records and other details about the licensed arms holders, village chiefs, political leaders, and residents of that village are being maintained. While I was on a random inspection, I found out that the condition of these registers was very poor and every page needed to be protected.”
Hence, to preserve these historic records, the Muzaffarnagar police started laminating and digitally scanning the decaying pages.
THE PROCESS OF PRESERVATION
The preservation process was taken up by Mr. Yadav in two steps. Firstly, as the papers were in a state of decay and were also breaking into pieces, the lamination of the pages was done to increase its shelf life and protect it from water, mishandling, wear and tear, etc. Secondly, the pages were digitally scanned so as to keep a compiled record on a computer.
Mr. Yadav said, “By digitalizing the records, their retrieval and accessibility will increase, which will further help in policing activities. Other than that, by laminating the pages the originality of the documents will be preserved.”
He added, “Some of the documents are also written in Urdu which are also 100-year-old and have records of the adjoining police stations. These documents add originality, and hence we are preserving these.”
Mr. Yadav said, “These records serve as the cultural and historic legacy of police officers who have served in the district. And preserving them is a duty of the department’s officers as to maintain their linguistic legacy.”
History is never given too much value in current times, but people always feel amazed by things which were made in the past. Therefore, this initiative will act as a heritage record for police officers who have served in Muzaffarnagar and will help other officers who will take charge in the district.
