The Kerala Police with the support of the United Nation’s International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) are set to turn six police stations in the State into women and child-friendly later this month on a pilot basis.
Authorities are waiting for a date convenient to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for him to inaugurate the project. Fort police station in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam East, Kadavanthra in Kochi, Thrissur Town East, Kozhikode Town and Kannur Town police stations have been identified for the first phase of the project
Infrastructural modifications being carried out in these stations at an investment of Rs.5 lakh each to give them women and child-friendly ambience are likely to be wrapped up shortly, sources said.
“We will run the pilot project for a year followed by an outcome evaluation based on which it will be expanded to police stations across the State,” said P. Vijayan, Inspector General of Police, Kochi Range, and the nodal officer for the project.
The women and child-friendly police stations aim at drawing the service of a vast pool of one-lakh volunteers trained under Kerala Police’s Student Police Cadet programme by making them an intermediary between the victim and the police.
21 indicators
A set of 21 indicators drawn primarily from the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act have been developed for the police stations to qualify as child-friendly. The aim is to develop a pool of child-friendly police personnel and better compliance with various legal provisions and Acts relating to child right and child protection.
Designated officer
Among other things, a child-friendly police station will have a designated police officer as a child welfare officer, a separate space for the interaction between the officer and the children and a separate register to record cases related to children and the action taken in the matter.
The child welfare officer will coordinate with various related agencies such as Our Responsibility to Children district resource centres, Child Welfare Committee, Juvenile Justice Board, Child Protection Units, Probation Officer, Superintendents of Homes, etc.
UNICEF will impart training to the child welfare officer and officer in charge of the police stations concerned, besides monitoring and reviewing the programme for compliance with international standards.
Multi-level committees will be formed for the implementation of the project beginning with Children and Police (CAP) Action Group at the participating police station limits led by the circle inspector concerned and the station house head as the convener, CAP district coordination committee chaired by the Superintendent of Police concerned, and Dy.SP District Crime Records Bureau as convener and CAP State coordination committee with State Police Chief as chairman and the State nodal officer as convener.
