KOZHIKODE: The Janajagratha samithis of 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 downtrodden women, say officials. Inadequate staff and mechanism to prevent abuses make things complicated.
The Janajagratha samithis, formed along with the Janamaithri police, was aimed at providing a parallel policing system, where a group of people were given the training to keep a check on their surroundings, under the guidance of their police station. Though they were not given many powers, they could inform and interfere in issues like border dispute and waste disposal.
"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 with them not turning out to be the moral police," said Kasaba CI P. Pramod. The checks they carry out in the areas is once in every three months. Officials themselves say this is not enough for studying their issues.
Kerala Women's Commission member Noorbina Rasheed says that even after shifting the Jagratha Samithis from under the Women's Commission to the social justice department, 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 issues of the downtrodden women at the ward-level as well as the panchayat level," said Ms Rasheed.
