PATNA: The Bihar Police has decided to open ‘Bal Mitra Thana’ (child friendly police stations) for juvenile delinquents. Modelled on playschools, these police stations will provide a congenial and homely environment to the destitute children or juveniles and prevent them from falling easy prey to professional criminals.
Two such police stations have already been opened in Purnia and Nalanda districts on an experimental basis. The walls of the Bal Mitra police stations have been painted with inspirational poems, messages and slogans. Paintings of ‘Chhota Hanuman’ and ‘Bal Krishna’have also been made.
Playing kits, toffees, biscuits and comic books have been provided to the police stations for the children. The Bal Mitra Than will be manned by women police personnel, that too, in civvies, so that the children don’t get intimidated.
These police stations will help the delinquents refrain from committing criminal offences or being exploited by history sheeters — a complain often received by senior police officers — and also shape their career.
Purnia superintendent of police Dayashankar said the Bal Mitra Thana in the district is currently operating from a room in the premises of the Sadar police station at the district headquarters.
Walls of the room have been given a cheerful look like that in a playschool so children don’t get a feeling of being at a police station.
A dedicated team of women police personnel has been assigned the task to man the child-friendly police station. “It has proved beneficial for curbing the incidents of child trafficking as well,” SP Dayashankar said, adding that the idea behind the whole exercise is to shape delinquents as good citizens and keep them at bay from falling into bad company.
In Nalanda, the Bal Mitra Thana recently started operating from the premises of Town police station. Subsequently, names of Rajgir and Hilsa police stations were also recommended for providing the facility.
“The project was badly affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic or else more such thanas would have been established by now,” a police officer posted in Nalanda revealed.
A senior IPS officer posted at the police headquarters said that the juveniles should not be treated like professional criminals.
“They should feel more safe and secure at the police station and the Bal Mitra Thana has been conceptualised with this noble idea in mind,” he added.