MP Police training schools 'adopt' 64 villages; send trainees for outreach

Bhopal, Sep 2 (PTI) More than 4,000 constable trainees of the Madhya Pradesh Police have been drafted for a 'village community outreach exercise' with the state-wide training institutions of the organisation "adopting" 64 villages across the state for the unique exercise.

Officials told PTI that the Training Directorate of the force headquartered in Bhopal has conceptualised a 'Village Connect Community Outreach' programme as part of which eight villages have been adopted or earmarked by each of these schools in their vicinity.

There are eight police training schools (PTSs) spread across various regions of the central Indian state.

The recruits in each of these institutions, in batches, have been asked to visit the chosen villages once a week and meet the locals, sarpanches and senior citizens to take their feedback on 27 issues of common concern and basic amenities.

This includes subjects related to education, health, crime, cleanliness and availability of organic fertlisers in the villages among others.

"The objective of this exercise is to make recruits understand the basic issues of a village and make a connection with the common people right from the beginning," Raja Babu Singh, Additional Director General (Training) of MP Police, said.

The "old and obsolete" way of training these men and women was to keep them in the confines of the PTS for nine months, away from interaction with the common population, and train them like fierce soldiers, making them feel different from the other people, he said.

These personnel are then launched into the world to dispense justice wielding lathi or rifles, sometimes indifferent to sensitivities and sensibilities, and requirements of the common person, the ADG, a 1994-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, said.

Therefore, he said, they decided to "change" this thinking and the training.

"It was then decided that the trainee constables must be taught empathy and to connect with local populace apart from being sensitive to their needs through this outreach exercise," Singh said.

A senior police officer said the feedback collected by the trainees will be shared with district-level authorities of the government so that efforts can be made to fix the issues highlighted by the villagers during the outreach exercise. PTI NES KSS KSS