In a first-of-its-kind exercise aimed at ensuring relatively better communication between its personnel and Delhiites on a variety of platforms ranging from social media to the streets of the Capital, the Delhi Traffic Police will attempt to hone their people skills through a series of workshops among collegiate students.
Commencing from December 15, the ‘soft-skill’ workshops will be held for traffic police personnel posted both on active field duty as well as those representing the Delhi Traffic Police on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp in successive batches and take place at different Delhi University colleges. The first session will take place at West Delhi’s Shivaji College.
“We will begin with a batch of 150 personnel, inclusive of both male and female participants, and similar batches will attend subsequent sessions composed of an equal number of participants,” said a traffic police officer privy to the initiative adding that both teachers and student volunteers would preside over the said classes.
According to senior police officers associated with it, the training module will encapsulate everything from general conversation to further engagement with members of the public. While the ‘general how-to’ of public engagement would constitute a major part of the module, it is expected to have tremendous impact on the traffic police’s recent resolve to better pedestrian safety and security.
As reported by The Hindu earlier, the traffic police had issued instructions to all its personnel to assist visitors while crossing carriageways at this year’s India International Trade Fair.
“Pedestrian safety is a major issue for us and, in the absence of foot-over-bridges at most major intersections, our personnel have now begun engaging with pedestrians at major crossings across Delhi on a daily basis,” said a traffic police officer adding that the objective behind the step was to prevent road accidents and extend safety to the vulnerable group, which figures on top of the list of victims of road accidents in the country.
“This training will help our personnel engage with the public more effectively and perhaps even allow them enough time to pass over a few suggestions on road safety to the public in the process,” the officer added.
Meanwhile, with more and more Delhiites connecting with its personnel on social media, the traffic police feels the need to equip its personnel with tools to deal effectively with ‘trolls’.
