Kozhikode: The Janamaithri community policing scheme will be introduced at seven more police stations in Kozhikode Rural police district, giving more thrust to empowerment of tribal people and protection of the elderly.
With this, all the 21 stations in the rural areas of the district will be covered under the Janamaithri Suraksha schemes.
Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran will announce the extended coverage at an event to be held at Vadakara on Friday in the presence of Superintendent of Police (Vadakara) M.K. Pushkaran.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Narcotic Cell) A.P. Chandran, who is also the Nodal Officer of the Janamaithri Scheme in rural areas, said the expansion of community policing projects to other stations would ensure better coverage of the marginalised segments, especially tribals, under the community welfare initiatives of the police department. “We will go ahead with the expansion on the basis of a directive from the Home Department,” he added.
A team of beat officers, assistant beat officers, and community liaison groups will be formed within the limits of each of the seven police stations to coordinate community policing activities. Major local issues within the limits of each police station will be identified and appropriate remedy offered with the participation of local community members.
Protection of elderly people who stay alone and those who need rehabilitation too will be the focus areas of the Janamaithri police. Regular patrol, legal aid, and free mediation will be the other priority areas.
According to beat officers, the objectives of the scheme were to ensure responsible participation of citizens in crime prevention at the local community level and protection of public resources. Since the launch of the scheme in 2010, there has been a promising improvement in relations between the public and the police, they attested.
“The Janamaithri scheme in rural areas had come to the benefit of a large number of tribal families, especially those from remote hamlets of Kodenchery panchayat. We have even taken families for pleasure trips and arranged special celebrations in their hamlets during festival seasons,” said a senior police officer who was formerly the Assistant Nodal Officer of the project. “We even constructed volleyball courts for tribesmen to divert their attention from drug abuse,” he added.
