VIJAYAWADA:  In a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, all police stations in Andhra Pradaesh were on Sunday declared ‘women-friendly’, with staff addressing women as ‘meeru’, ‘amma’, ‘thalli’ or ‘chelli’. This was announced by Director General of Police D Gautam Sawang on the occasion of International Women’s Day. 

The DGP interacted with relatives of staff at all 989 police stations in the State through video conferencing, and members of the Mahila Mitra and Mahila Samrakshana police were invited to police stations to be part of the initiative.

Interacting with Sawang, many of the women said it was their first time visiting a police station though their family members worked there, and thanked the DGP for the opportunity.

Sawang urged them to encourage other women to approach police stations freely and without any fear in case of any problem, and spread the message that police stations are women-friendly. He also said the presence of women family members, Mahila Mitra and Mahila Samrakshan police was intended to break the psychological barrier that prevents women from going to police stations.

“You (family members) play a major role in making police stations women-friendly. Share the experience with your friends and family and tell them that the police are their saviours. With your effort, we can make the State safe for women and other vulnerable sections of society,” Sawang said.

He further devised indicators for women-friendly police stations. Divided into institutional, structural, environmental, behavioural and action-based categories, a total of 19 parameters were identified. Police stations will now work towards these targets.

“This is the turning point in ushering in a change in the mindset of all staff working at police stations, and he (policeman) himself changes when his family members come to the station. Till yesterday, women felt police station were a ‘no-go zone’ for women. But with the wives, daughters, sisters and mothers of police staff coming to stations, there will be a change in the mindset of police personnel and women can feel stations safe and friendly.

We have shattered the notion that police stations are unsafe and uncordial. I can say proudly that police stations in Andhra Pradesh are safe and women-friendly,” Sawang told TNIE. Earlier in the day, Sawang inaugurated Disha Mahila police station in Guntur and urged the public to install Disha SOS App on their mobile phones. He also said 12 more Disha police stations were inaugurated on Sunday. ADGP (Law and Order) Ravi Shankar Ayyanar, DIG Technical Services G Pala Raju, Disha special officer Deepika Patil, and AIG (Administration) Aishwarya Rastogi were also present on the occasion and interacted with the family members of police personnel.

Indicators to rate progress
The DGP devised indicators for women-friendly police stations. Divided into institutional, structural, environmental, behavioural and action-based categories, a total of 19 parameters were identified