AYMANGALA (CHITRADURGA DISTRICT): A group of hardy women police personnel from the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) battalions of Belagavi and Bengaluru, along with four IAS officers, are on a 545-km cycling expedition from Belagavi to spread awareness about social issues. The expedition started off on December 6 and will reach Bengaluru on December 10. This is for the first time such an expedition is being conducted by the KSRP.
The 95-member team, which pedals 120 km every day, has been highlighting issues such as preventing child marriage, educating the girl child, equality of women, health of women, open defecation-free society, cleanliness, preventing female foeticide and other issues pertaining to women. During the four-day expedition the team has been meeting students at various schools and explaining the problems faced by the girl children and ways to overcome them. They have also been requesting the public to support the cause in a big way.
Speaking to TNIE at the Police Training School at Aymangala, where the team had halted for the day, ADGP Bhaskar Rao said, ‘The aim of the expedition is to build confidence and bridge the gap between the public and the police, as there is a negative image about the police. We want to weed out this and create a fresh image that the police are there for the betterment of the society and they are people-friendly.”
He also said the cycling expedition keeps the minds of the police personnel creative and helps in delivering better services to society.
This will be replicated across the state and a new image will be created. Rao also said that the image makeover is not an easy task and it needs lot of effort. The cycling expedition is part of the exercise and this will be continued in a big way in future, he added.