Police Commissioner Dr K Venkatesham at SP college on Wednesday. (Express)(Written by Sameer Manekar)
If a society does not have discipline, the efforts of police in making it a better place will be of little avail, said Pune Police Commissioner Dr K Venkatesham at a lecture in Sir Parshurambhau (SP) College Wednesday.
As part of an ongoing lecture series at SP College, Venkatesham spoke about the role of police in society and the importance of discipline and internal evolution. He interacted with students of the college from various faculties, along with the cadets of National Cadet Corps (NCC), Pune. Striking up a lively and light-hearted conversation with students, he answered their questions about topics ranging from naxalism to the security situation in the city.
“It is all right to have an ideology — be it leftist, centrist or rightist. But those who do not believe in the Constitution, take the route of violence to bring down a state running on the guidelines of Constitution, will not be tolerated in a democratic country,” said Venkatesham, when asked about his views on Naxalism. Venkatesham is a 1988-batch IPS officer who started his career as an assistant superintendent in Gondia, Maharashtra, in the early 90s.
Talking about the need for discipline in society, Venkatesham said, “Discipline is the most important today. Just like the police force needs to have discipline to function efficiently, a society also needs to have discipline in all its aspects. The police alone cannot make society a better place. It is important for each one of us to have an internal discipline, and evolve internally for that to happen.”
He added that the city needs traffic discipline. “For the last 10 years, Pune has seen a sharp increase in migration, as a result of which the traffic situation has become a huge problem. In October, our control room received roughly 740 calls, and 632 in November. As a society, we need to take this seriously and bring these numbers down. Is it possible to make it a new year resolution?” he asked students.
He gave his views on what he expects from the youth in Pune. “Our country needs to become independent in terms of technology. Most of our electronic consumption comes from outside the country. Our generation could not achieve this independence, but I hope the younger generation takes steps in this direction,” he said. Concluding by requesting students to wear helmets to college every day, he also welcomed their suggestions of a new year’s resolution for the Pune Police.
