The Commissionerate Police has decided to have a watchful eye on school campuses of the Twin City to take on the rising incidence of eve-teasing around the educational institutions.
Special telephone numbers and deployment of plainclothed policemen will be part of the multi-pronged strategies which were discussed at a meeting of Police Commissioner Dr RP Sharma with Principals here on Friday.
All the schools which were represented in the meet acknowledged the nuisance of growing eve-teasing around the campuses and wanted a solution.
The first thing the Commissionerate of Police plans to do is sensitise the schools - their management as well as students - about how they can use the existing services to alert cops so that enforcement measures can be taken.“We have asked them to use Dial 100 as of now. Besides, we are also planning to come up with new numbers which the students or teachers can call to reach our officers,” Dr Sharma said. In fact, police plan to use information from the schools so that it can send in plainclothed officers from Special Squad to crack down on the eve-teasers, he added.
That apart, the Principals were asked to make a fresh review of the school bus services in their respective institutions. Issues such as pick-up points, parking, safety and over-crowding in the buses are to be assessed and streamlined. The guidelines issued by the Supreme Court as well as Commissionerate of Police from time to time have to be strictly adhered to by the schools.
“A team comprising members from the Traffic Wing and local police station will go and visit each school in next three months time to assess the measures the schools have undertaken,” the Police Commissioner said. The cops are also planning to sensitise the students about not using geared vehicles. During the meeting, the school managements also raised the issue of students going to cyber-cafes skipping classes for which surprise checks will be made, if necessary.
Meanwhile, Commissionerate Police has decided to revive the senior citizen cells which had become dormant in different police stations and expand their number at the same time.
More number of ageing and the elderly, who are living alone, will be enrolled. The senior citizens will also be given ID cards and driving stickers.
The Commissionerate of Police also plans to seek the participation of NGOs and civil society in keeping the cells active. Shortage of manpower is a major problem for running the cells in full force.
According to Dr Sharma, who met the senior citizens on Friday, a checklist of Dos and Don’ts has been circulated earlier and police plan to prepare a fresh one. The performance of the cells will be reviewed after six months.