Silvester D'Souza

Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Nov 24: Sub-inspector (SI) of the police station here, Harish, took part in the 'Thereda Mane (open house)' programme on Thursday November 23 at the police station, which was meant for the students of government higher primary school, Tallur, in which he tried his best to provide answers to curious questions the children threw at him.

"Do police, who are found working round the clock, not get tired? Do they get any leave or not?" "What is an aeroplane in police terminology? Do inmates of prisons get food?" were some of the questions the small children posed to the SI.

The programme was held under the joint aegis of the taluk education resource centre, taluk School Development and Monitoring Committees Coordination Forum, district resource centre, and police station here. This was part of the programme, 'Children Rights Month'. The SI encouraged the children to toss to him questions without any hesitations.

Addressing the participants, Harish advised the children to equip themselves with knowledge that is required to live in the society, and not to confine themselves to bookish knowledge. He advised them to get any doubts arising in their minds through programmes like this one. "Children enjoy several rights. As per Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, insolently staring at children, touching their bodies without permission etc, are also considered as wrong. If you face any problem from anyone, initially inform your teachers and parents about them. You can fearlessly call our police station and complain about your problem without any hesitation," he told the children.

Chief officer of the municipal council here, Gopalakrishna Shetty, asked the children to nurse the habit of going through newspapers everyday in addition to studying their text books. He agreed that it is the responsibility of elders to make sure that the dreams of young children do not get hurt.

Babu Pai of taluk education resource centre, delivered introductory address. Social activist, Hussain Haikadi, teachers of Tallur school, Chandrashekhar, Sujata,Priya and police personnel of the station were present.

The children were made aware about things like pistol, prison, and activities undertaken at the police station on this occasion. Nagaraj of taluk SDMC Coordination Forum hosted the programme.

One of the questions raised was about the meaning of police and what punishment will be awarded to the children who commit crimes. Harish, giving lucid answers to these questions, told them that children have separate sets of rules. He said that the practice of using the word, 'juvenile delinquents' to denote children who have committed crimes has since been shelved and even when children up to the age of 17 run away from their homes on their own, such cases are treated as abduction. He told the children that the police department provides food for the accused in prisons and that police too have holidays, leave etc which they can avail in case of necessity.