Kozhikode: The Janajagratha samithis by the Janamaithri police as well as the jagratha samithis under the social justice department are doing next to nothing, in addressing the issues faced by the poor and the downtrodden women of society, according to officials. The shortage of staff and the lack of an effective mechanism to prevent the abuses against them are making things complicated, officials add.
The Janajagratha samithis, formed along with the Janamaithri police, was aimed at providing a parallel policing system, where a group of people were given training to keep a check on their surrounding, under the guidance of their police station. “There is a general conception to react only when there is a serious issue. On other occasions, they react as if there is a need to. When training the public to watch their area, we have to be careful so that they do not turn out to be moral police,” said Kasaba CI P. Pramod.
The checks they carry out in the areas are once in every three months. Officials themselves say this is not enough for studying the issues in the area. Women’s Commission member Noorbina Rasheed says that even after shifting the Jagratha Samithis from under the Women's commission to Social Justice dept, they still monitor the committees on a regular basis.
“There should be more frequent checks into the issues being faced by women, especially the elderly and single mothers. There is no effective mechanism to study the issues of the downtrodden women in the ward-level as well as the panchayat level,” said Ms Noorbina.
