KOCHI: The Kerala Police Department is treading a new path to ensure the wellbeing of its personnel. The department will soon organise a music and arts festival, where their families can come together and enjoy, in a bid to ease the stress of officers.
The government accorded sanction for the event, modelled on the school arts fest after state police chief Loknath Behera submitted a report highlighting the importance of such a fete considering the officers’ mounting work pressure.
A Home Department order, dated July 31, 2018, said Rs 50 lakh would be allotted for it.
Kerala Police Association general secretary P B Anil Kumar said: “We conducted a music and arts festival in Kozhikode on a trial basis and it turned out to be a huge success with high participation of both police personnel and their family members,” he said.
Through the festival, the department also aims to build a united organisation having tolerance.
The department has been analysing the rising number of suicides in the force and designing various programmes for the past year to tackle the issue. It had introduced a mentoring system to guide and help police personnel deal with the stress related to job and family issues. As many as 17 police personnel had committed suicide in 2017-2018 in the state.