Energy Minister G. Jagadish Reddy along with Director General of Police M. Mahender Reddy inaugurated Bharosa centre, the State women police wing’s one-stop centre for women and children, at Prakasham Bazaar, and a Traffic Training Institute at the district police office, here on Monday.
‘Bharosa’, or assurance, as the name suggests, helps children and women victims of various abuses by way of intervention with multifarious support services, under one roof.
According to the Minister, Telangana’s Bharosa centre is a one-of-a-kind initiative in the country. He credited Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao with introducing modern aspects into policing and for improving work efficiency, while also taking care of the personnel.
One of the brains behind Bharosa, Addl. DGP (Women Safety) Swati Lakra said the Nalgonda facility is the fifth one in the State, after centres in Hyderabad, Warangal and Sangareddy. She said four more centres would come up in Khammam, Suryapet and Medchal districts shortly.
Ms. Lakra, explaining that the centre offers confidential support to victims through police, medical and legal experts, in addition to relief and rehabilitation, also added that Bharosa centres will soon host POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court services through video conferencing. The centres are equipped with required technology infrastructure and teams of trained personnel, she said.
For the DGP, prevention of crime is the first priority of policing, and hence initiatives such as Bharosa, SHE teams, girl safety clubs in schools, about nine lakh CCTV installations in the State with people partnership, have been in place. He affirmed that Telangana police is people-friendly, but only to those with good conduct.
Superintendent of Police A.V. Ranganath, the host officer, said about 40% of the annual crimes in the district involved women victims. He said ‘SHE team police’ has been a crucial force in producing good results and believed the specialised Bharosa centre would act as an effective platform.
The traffic training institute set up at the police office is a first such centre outside Hyderabad. Aimed at reducing accidents, it is equipped with simulators, counselling rooms and other prevention programs.
