By Nayanima Basu, IANS
Jaipur : A sparkling white building surrounded by trees, a marbled staircase and carefully trimmed green lawns greet a visitor at the plush Vidhayakpuri Police Station in southern Jaipur.
It is in fact northern India’s first police station to have been certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and offers quite a contrast to the dull and matter-of-fact looking structures that characterise most Indian police stations.
Vidhayakpuri Police Station was awarded ISO 9001:2000 certification on Nov 11, 2005, for its efficient service, adherence to quality and outstanding customer service.
“We want to bring back people’s faith in police that we are there to help them and not scare them more,” Pushpendra Singh Rathore, station house officer, Vidhayakpuri Police Station, told IANS.
Singh, 41, who was part of the UN’s Peacekeeping Force in Kosovo, initiated the process of changing the look of the police station and also the way cases are lodged and dealt with.
“While I was posted in Kosovo I saw how people intermingled with one another and how everything is done in a proper, systematic manner. So I thought why not implement the system here as well?” Singh said.
“Basically, we want to portray that we are a service industry and we are there to help people,” he said.
The thing that strikes a visitor first is the presence of a well-dressed reception right in front of the entrance and a receptionist who carefully listens to people and their complaints and directs them to the officer concerned.
The police station, which has around 70 personnel, also houses a gym that has a multipurpose exercising machine, treadmill, dumb-bells and various kinds of weights.
Not only that it also has a plasma TV lounge, where a complainant can relax while sipping a hot cuppa from the vending machine while his/her FIR, which can be filed online through the police station’s website, is being processed.
It has colourful constable barracks painted in bright orange, green and pink while the barracks for woman constables are constructed separately with arrangements to keep them peppy.
“We find it very peaceful to work here. It has all the facilities one can ask for in a workplace. Everything here is systematic which makes it all the more comfortable,” averred Indra Ahlawat, head constable, Vidhayakpuri Police Station.
The station’s lock-cells are under 24-hour surveillance due to high-tech CCTVs that have been installed in strategic positions. The cells also have coloured flooring and attached washroom facilities.
“What we want is to basically make the procedures systematic wherein everything will be clearly laid out, cases will be disposed soon, with proper time management, records will be well maintained and, most importantly, be people friendly,” said A.S. Gill, director general of police, Rajasthan.
“This also helps those who work there with a proper career growth plan and helps them to dedicate their whole life for the service which is so vital for the welfare of society,” Gill added.
Currently, Rajasthan has 42 ISO certified police stations and 164 are in the process of receiving the coveted certification.
(Nayanima Basu can be contacted at [email protected])