‘From tribal hamlets to urban sights’ — a one-day sightseeing programme organised by the Rural police under its Janamaithri Community policing scheme — saw the participation of 91 tribespeople from Kodencheri on Friday.
The police team, led by Janamaithri Assistant Nodal Officer, Vadakara, T.V. Dhananjayan, took the tribespeople to major tourist centres in the city.
Group The group comprised 62 women and 29 men who belonged to various tribal hamlets in the Kodenchery panchayat. The tour took them to the Beypore port, Planetarium, Kozhikode beach, and Mananchira, besides covering the Kozhikode railway station.
“Almost 90 per cent of the community members were seeing trains for the first time in their lives, which reflected how these communities were living detached to the swift urbanisation,” Mr. Dhananjayan said. “Some of them tasted ice cream for the first time in their lives. Planetarium shows too put some of the participants in high spirits,” he said.
Karutha, 82, from the Kodenchery hamlet, was the senior-most participant in the sightseeing programme.
The police team said the programme was organised by utilising a special fund sanctioned by the State government to support the Janamaithri scheme. Similar programmes would be organised for tribal communities in Valayam, Thottilpalam, and Thiruvambadi regions in the coming months, sources said. Deputy Superintendent of Police V.K. Ajith Mohan flagged off the tour from Vadakara. Police officers C. Raman, M. Valsan, Gireesh Kumar, and Jessy Mathew escorted the team to various destinations.
