Deviating from their routine policing for maintenance of law and order, the District police have launched a new initiative to build close rapport with villagers and teach the younger generation, moral values and the need to keep themselves away from communal conflicts.
After Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan opined that the district could shed its dubious image of ‘backward’ and ‘communally sensitive’ if villagers and youth were educated about values of life, the District police developed a module to build trust with the people by visiting villages.
Assistant Superintendent of Police S. Sarvesh Raj implemented the module in Ramanathapuram police division on an experimental basis and received an overwhelming response from the people, especially youngsters. As the exercise turned out to be a success, the SP has decided to extend it to all the divisions in the district.
The SP has asked the Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) and Inspectors in the respective divisions to visit at least two villages in a week and interact with the people on all issues concerning their development and progress. “This is mainly a confidence and trust building measure and once the public trusted the police, law and order could be easily maintained,” the SP told The Hindu .
The village-visit programme was also aimed at making people believe that the police could be easily accessible, he said. If people trusted the police half of the problems could be solved, he added.
The district has not witnessed communal conflicts in the last three or four years and thanks to this, the government and private sector started focussing on the district for launching industrial and developmental activities, he said.
“This is one of the districts where there is no labour problem,” he said adding this was evident when a private firm could establish country’s largest solar power plant and generate power in a record time.
Referring to power projects in the pipeline in the district such as the 1,600 MW Uppur power plant and 4,000 MW power plant in Kadaladi block, he said Ramanathapuram would soon emerge as a major power and employment generating district in the State, he said.
Mr. Sarvesh Raj, who had visited 50 villages, said the people were responsive. They were fully convinced when police explained them as to why the youth should keep a distance from caste conflicts and other crimes.
The ASP, who has designed a programme for freeing the district from communal strife, proposed to unveil it in the coming days by organising oratorical competition among school students on caste reforms, he said.
