Recently,
I watched the interview of Sir. P Vijayan IPS in a popular Malayalam
TV program- recommended to me by one of my Nieces. Living away from
Kerala, I am not in touch with the day to day happenings in the
state, even after the frequent visit to manoramaonline or other
popular news portals, I miss out the major chunk of news very often.
The news of IBN – CNN person of the year, hadn't caught my
attention until I saw this interview. Awards bring a visibility to
the humanitarian efforts, giving the programs further momentum to
move forward. Here is a police officer redefining the role of police
in our society- effective policing according to him is not only keep
the law and order in a state, but to also prevent the crime. The best
way to prevent crime is to eliminate it. And that according to him is
to work with young generation to make them respect and abide the law,
help them realize their potential and channelize their energy. Each
of the sixteen programs he started is one step closer to achieving
this goal.
One
of his major initiative is Student Police Cadet- an avenue where
police officers work closely with students in their neighborhood. The
project is
a "school
based youth development initiative that trains high school students
to evolve as future leaders of a democratic society by inculcating
within them respect for the law, discipline, civic sense, empathy for
vulnerable sections of society and resistance to social evils."
One of
its indented benefits
is the holistic development of the child- a
child
who will grow to lead with
empathy towards fellow human beings
and become a
contributing
member
of
the society. Another one is that, it helps the people see police
officers in a different perspective- one that is involved in a
constructive and positive relationship with the society, as a group
of professionals trying to better
the life of
people. There are mutual benefits from this interactions. What began
as a small initiative that is pilot tested in a couple of schools in
2006 has now developed into a program that involves 32,000 student
police cadets spanning schools across Kerala. It
is about to expand to other states in India and also to be adopted by
other countries. What a noble idea to make a difference in the life
of young people. I can see the student cadets as confident young
leaders of tomorrow ready to tackle the future of our country.
Nanma
was started by Mr. Vijayan when he was working as city commissioner
of police in Cochin. He states in the interview that this project was inspired
by an old mother and her adult special need son who were starving for
days when he met them. On their first effort to help eradicate poverty, he collaborated with people from different walks of life and
together they were able to transform a slum near Cochin by helping
the kids with their education, ladies with some life skills, and by
taking actions against criminals. They cleaned up the place, children
focused on studies and many has been admitted to various professional
courses. What is notable in this situation is that, he has recognized
that a person alone can not make much of a difference- it should be a
collective work of many people – his job was to connect people who
are willing to help with people who needs help. Like this projects
name- there are a lot of people full of “goodness(nanma)” in this
world. The ones who contributed to this project strengthen our belief
in humanity. This project also has expanded and successfully
implemented across Kerala.
"Our
Responsibility to Children" took shape while Mr Vijayan worked
as a commissioner of police at Calicut. He was responding to the
issue of rehabilitation of vulnerable youth who are caught in petty
police cases. He realized that Sending them to Jail is a sure way of
making them a hard core criminals, where as correcting them and
guiding them is giving them a second chance. People turn to criminal
activities mostly due to their circumstance. Through mentoring and
guidance and by collaborating with social activists, educationists
and police officers, Mr. Vijayan and his team were able to bring back
a group of young children from the criminal world and rehabilitate
them successfully. And then this program expanded to the neighboring
districts and now the social justice department took it up and
implemented it in every districts with a goal of “detecting
socially deviant behavior in youngsters, including
criminal offenses
and illicit use of drugs among adolescents and to take corrective
measures, evaluate and socially rehabilitate young offenders and
Creating a safety net for insulating children from criminal
gangs"
Mr.
Vijayan's
initiatives mostly focus on children
and
their well being as
that he believes is the best way to make a difference and help build
a strong democratic nation. He has initiated about sixteen such
programs as of now. Each of his programs are a response to solve a
challenge that he encountered during his work. A true visionary, he
realizes how to tap the potential of young children and uses it to
bring the best in them. He credits it to his love for his own
children. It might also have
come from his own experiences as young child dealing with the adult
world. He
had entered into labor force much younger, leaving his studies behind
at one point of time. Only
a person full of love and compassion in his heart would have such ideas
– to
relentlessly lead and thus better the life of people around. Firmly
rooted in his humble beginnings, he is transforming the young
generation. We can see the ripple effect of his works soon as these young people lead a life he envisions!
What can the rest of Kerala do to help the young generation to raise up to the challenges of the twenty first century? There is no shortage of talents for sure. We need more programs in schools where kids are taught to actively involve in community. Parent teacher associations can help connect kids with volunteering opportunities in the community. Thus we can instill a sense of responsibility and value system not only for few students who choose to be in Student Police Cadet or in NCC, but for every single child. It need not be expensive, a wide range of small programs can be implemented in schools across Kerala where students and community work together- just like how Police and student Police cadets work together.
Equally important is educating parents on skills to help and discipline their children- which can be successfully taken up by PTA . There should be a constant interaction between school, parents and teachers, not only to see how well students are doing academically, but also to develop and implement programs that help parents and teachers. Schools should act as a support system for parents. Schools can accomplish this by connecting people who can help with those who needs help.
There should be more programs where collaboration is encouraged between students than competition. Instead of thinking how can I get ahead, students should be taught to work together and collaborate and ask- how can we work together to solve a problem. That would help them look at the problems around and find the solution. The strength lies in numbers.
About one third of its population between 10- 25 years of age - it is a blessing and a curse for India at the same time. A blessing if we can tap their energy and potential to progress our nation, a curse when its young generation become lazy, arrogant and self indulgent. Where our country will go depends upon how our young generation will shape up. People like Mr. Vijayan is helping our youngsters become a responsible, confident, productive and contributing members of society. I wish that many more of such people will come forward to work together for a better tomorrow.
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