KOCHI: Each day, across 35 police stations — along with specialised units like the women’s cell, cyber cell, and district crime bureau, under the Ernakulam rural police — receive around 130 to 150 complaints. Delayed responses and prolonged inaction while considering these many complaints, add to the frustrations of complainants. To resolve and address them more effectively, the rural police under district police chief Vaibhav Saxena launched the initiative ‘Urappu’ in mid-February, one of the first of its kind in the state.
Through this, a three-member squad will contact each complainant, listen to their concerns, and take swift action. It will also provide suggestions, and collect feedback on the police intervention. Since its launch, the team has made around 25,000 phone calls to address and resolve complaints.
“This Janamaithri initiative aims to ensure prompt, accurate, and corruption-free actions in response to complaints. The name ‘Urappu’ itself signifies a pledge, symbolising the police’s commitment to always stand by the public,” said a police officer in the squad.
He said that the initiative gives complainants the confidence that a team led by an IPS-ranked officer is directly involved in their cases and also prompts officers at local stations to take complaints seriously, reducing the chances of corruption and personal interference.
He further explained the squad’s functioning. “The details of complaints received within the rural police limits are shared with us via the i-cops server. We contact each complainant within three days and listen carefully to their concerns. Based on the issue, we either contact the relevant police station to speed up the procedures or direct the complainant to meet specific officers for further action. In some cases, we arrange counselling or classes depending on the nature of the complaint. If we are unable to reach a decision, we escalate the matter to the Superintendent of Police. The SP then either personally contacts the complainant or holds a face-to-face discussion to ensure appropriate action is taken, the officer said.
“Some interactions with complainants may take more than one to two hours, but we remain patient and listen carefully to guide them through their problems. Through these heartfelt conversations, we’ve been able to resolve a number of less severe complaints, such as domestic issues involving drunk husbands, children not being attentive, and even family disputes that could have led to divorce,” said the officer.
He added, “Last Saturday, we contacted 140 complainants based on the details we received.”
Supporting this, a resident of Aluva, who had lodged a complaint with the Aluva East police station and later had it resolved by the squad, shared her experience, “I was deeply concerned that my children, especially my elder son, was not attentive to my needs and neither helped me physically nor financially. After filing the complaint, an officer from the SP office contacted me, patiently listened to my concerns, and offered kind words. During the conversation itself, a significant part of my distress eased.” Later, I found out that the police had also spoken to my children and advised them to take better care of me.
Now, the situation has changed, and they are much more attentive to me, the 65-year-old woman added. Commenting on the ‘Urappu’ initiative, Vaibhav Saxena, who spearheaded the programme, said, “It is highly beneficial to the public, giving ordinary citizens the assurance that the police, especially the district headquarters, are there to support them in any of their problems or concerns.
At the same time, we are closely monitoring and correcting the behaviour and actions of cops in handling complaints.” He added that even a single phone call from district headquarters can positively influence certain civil matters, in which the police might not be able to directly intervene.
Saxena highlighted that some rural police stations receive between 800 to 1,000 complaints each month. In some cases, complaints may not be handled properly, either due to the sheer volume or the actions of certain officers. Through the feedback collected via the Urappu initiative, we can now easily identify which officers are sincerely addressing complaints and who are allowing personal interference to affect their duties.
“The idea came to my mind when I was the Superintendent in Kasaragod, where I set up a call centre as an experiment. But when I came to Ernakulam, given the size of the district, it took a bit more time to implement the programme,” said Saxena. “Urappu is a silent revolution, and I am hopeful that it will bring about positive results,” he added.