Nagaland inspector general of police (Range) Sonia Singh, under the guidance of the Nagaland director general of police, launched a new initiative called “Police Ke Pathshala” to reach out to the student community and create awareness about policing among them.
This project is envisioned to enlighten the students about the rule of law and impress upon the paramount necessity of preserving law and order for development of the society.
The project was launched in Little Flower Higher Secondary School Kohima on Friday. More than 500 students attended the programme that discussed issues such as cyber crime (cyber stalking, voyeurism, defamation, revenge porn especially against women), community policing, crimes against women, road safety, self-defence, criminal law amendments, women empowerment and bridging the gap between public and police.
The project focuses on schools and other educational institutions as its main platform for sensitisation on various topics and subjects pertaining to policing.
Singh said the project was necessitated as despite having good laws for protection of citizens for peace and prosperity, they remained largely on paper. She said the students are the future citizens and the noble ideals of the laws must be ingrained in them for their effective implementation.
She also stated that the aim of this initiative is to make ‘public-police relations’ a key aspect of policing, where the image of the police is built as the protector of citizens’ rights and in their service.
Singh plans to extend the initiative to all higher secondary schools and colleges in the state. She said police officers will visit schools and give presentations, hold interactive sessions with the students, conduct essay competitions, give out printed materials as well as invite teachers and students to get a firsthand experience on how the police department functions.
The police department looked forward to active participation of the staff and the students of educational institutions for better coordination and conducive public-police relations.