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| Saturday, 2 October 2004 |
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Women team up with police to promote law and order by Chandani Jayatilleke The Kuliyapitiya Police Division has set a unique example in combating vice and crime. It has empowered the women of the area by forming committees to mobilize other villagers and support the police in their actions against crime and violence. In turn, the police, together with a group of donors and businessmen, offer them numerous facilities, including training and help to secure jobs. The police have set up Womens' Civil Security Committees (WCSC). The police stations in the area have launched 'job banks' and various other facilities while village women have taken to playing a chief role in the WCSCs. Under this novel initiative, a group of women in each village will work with the police and play a pivotal role in finding answers (by themselves) to numerous issues in their villages. Some of the activities being carried out by these committees include, increasing cooperation between police and the public, gathering information on unemployment, child issues, and other problems in the village arising from misunderstandings. In short, the WCSCs play the facilitator's role between the villages, the police stations and private sector institutions. A brainchild of the Kuliyapitiya SSP, W.P.Dayaratne, the WCSC project is shaping up well and the women's enthusiasm has already paid desired dividends. The project is fully supported by DIG, Asoka Rathnaweera. According to SSP Dayaratne, the WCSCs have been set up in every village in the Kuliyapitiya Police Division. In this division, there are eight police stations and about 85 to 95 villages under each police station. But the police do not expect committee women to do night patrols or catch thieves! "The women are not expected to get involved in security activities. But they can play a very effective role in the society by discussing issues and providing information to their respective police stations," says SSP Dayaratne. Why women? We queried. "Women have endurance and this is vital. They have a better understanding about household issues," he said. Explaining the rationale behind this initiative, Dayaratne said that the program aimed to create a violence-free society. "Policing needs much cooperation from the public. As the police we are responsible for creating a just and crime-free society. However, what we see is a mounting crime rate in the country. There have also been various forms of abuse and exploitation, besides road accidents. There's no discipline or tolerance among the people." The Kuliyapitiya Police Division experienced a rising crime wave in the recent past. Political divisions among villagers are a major cause of this mounting crime rate. The word 'politics' is taboo within this program. No committee is allowed to talk politics and no committee is allowed to mobilize people for political purposes. "This is a politics-free, village uplift program", SSP Dayaratne said. "Villages in the country have been subject to exploitation in the recent past. According to many experts, the village concept is fast diminishing in Sri Lanka. "Human qualities are falling among villagers to the level of beasts, mainly because of consumption of liquor. Villagers are engaged in brewing illicit liquor too. Through this project, we aim to create households free of 'kasippu' or liquor consumers," Dayaratne said. Another aspect of this multi-faceted program is building "humanity" and promoting religious values. "We have also created job banks within police stations with the support of donors and industrialists. "Through this we network job seekers and institutions so that many youths can find jobs in these institutions with salaries ranging from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000. There are also programs to encourage self employment projects," he said. Providing housing facilities for the needy is another mission of the program. "At present four houses are being built to be given to the poor. Many villages in the area do not have facilities such as a dispensary. In this project, we are renovating old dispensary buildings and providing some medical facilities to the villagers." Funds for such activities are collected from various donors, and commercial institutions. "We have asked them to donate funds which they have set aside for entertainment, for projects of this nature. And we have received a good response from the businessmen so far," SSP Dayaratne said. School children have not been forgotten in this endeavour. Police, together with WCSCs, have launched several programs to protect children from abusers. "We also have a demonstration unit which go to schools"' he said. Meanwhile, several police stations in the area have begun to practise the 5S management system. Pannala, Narammala and Dummalasuriya have already achieved the 5S target. "The police officers who work in these stations are more courteous. They welcome people with a smile. And the environment is kept clean and tidy," SSP Dayaratne said. The Sri Lanka Police has fully endorsed the project initiated in Kuliyapitiya. |
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