Satyarthi calls for sensitising police on crimes against children

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Wednesday called for sensitising police on crimes against children and proposed a special children cell in the police forces.

"Police should be sensitised on the crimes against women and there should be a special children cell in the police forces," Satyarthi said on the occasion of valedictory session of the first National Conference of Micro Missions of National Police Mission.

The two-day event was organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).

Quoting National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data, Satyarthi said the rising pendency of crimes against children is a matter of concern.

"The recent amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act, Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, popularly known as Nirbhaya Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012, should be effectively used to ensure a safe and secure environment for our children, who constitute about 35 per cent of India's population," Satyarthi said.

Neither the politicians and bureaucracy nor the judiciary, but it is the policeman who represents the face of governance and rule of law in the society, he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Bureau of Police Resarch and Development (BPR&D) Director Meeran C. Borwankar said: "On Satyarthi's suggestion, the ninth Micro Mission under the National Police Mission has been set up on crimes against children."

She announced the BPR&D would soon be shifting to its new campus in west Delhi's Mahipalpur.

Director of National Police Mission, Inspector General Nirmal Kumar Azad said the BPR&D would soon initiate a process to rank state police forces through a third party audit as proposed by NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) CEO Amitabh Kant in his inaugural address on Tuesday.

Additional Director General of BPR&D Parvez Hayat also attended the event aimed to review, share learnings and trace the journey of National Police Mission ever since its inception in 2008.

--IANS

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