The Perambalur Police have reached out to newly elected panchayat presidents in the district and networked with them with the twin objective of widening the information base and raising awareness of social issues.
The social media team of the Perambalur Police has created a Whatsapp group comprising field-level police officers serving in the district, including the Deputy Superintendents of Police and the newly panchayat presidents, under the e-initiative.
Barring a few, the newly elected local body representatives have been added to the dedicated Whatsapp group that was created over a month ago by the social media team. Awareness creation on issues concerning public safety was being driven home through memes containing socially-relevant messages in Tamil which were being posted regularly in the Whatsapp group as well as in the Perambalur District Police Facebook account, say police sources.
The social media team that creates the memes in Tamil under the name of Perambalur District Police posts them on the social messaging platform after getting concurrence from the higher authorities. The Whatsapp group has 110 members at present, say sources. The backward Perambalur district encompasses eight law and order police stations falling under the Perambalur and Mangalamedu sub divisions besides an All Women Police Station functioning at Perambalur Town.
The objective of creating a Whatsapp group after obtaining the numbers from the newly elected panchayat presidents was to stay connected with them and the general public which would help in knowing issues happening at the ground-level instantly and take remedial measures speedily. The social media platform was also being made use of to drive home socially -relevant messages to the village panchayat presidents and thereon to general public, says a senior police officer.
Memes containing messages on adherence to road rules and safety, use of Kavalan SOS App, importance of installation of Closed Circuit Television units for effective monitoring and crime prevention measures among others were being posted in the Whatsapp Group regularly, say the sources.
With smart phones in the hands of many, it has become easier to create Whatsapp group to spread socially relevant messages to the general public through the newly elected panchayat presidents. Police sources say that creation of the Whatsapp group has begun to yield positive results as information was coming forth from the field-level.
A panchayat president had recently shared a photo of an accident reported in his village in the Whatsapp group prompting the police to act speedily. In another instance, a couple of panchayat presidents had informed about crime cases reported in their respective villages, says a police officer.
Suggestions on road safety have also been posted in the Whatsapp group by some group members and also on Facebook which were being constantly monitored by the social media team to alert the jurisdictional police station. The Whatsapp group serves as a two-way communication between the police and the panchayat presidents, says the Perambalur Superintendent of Police Nisha Parthiban.
