To give a chance to those who are listed at various police stations under the ‘rowdy-sheet’ file, to enter the mainstream and live a normal life, the city police started a programme ‘Marpu’ (Change) on Monday.
Speaking to The Hindu, Police Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha said every person needs to to get a chance to change and lead a good life. It has been seen that many who are listed under rowdy-sheets, have changed for better, but are unable to do something, as their names figure in the sheets.
Quoting a recent case, he said that one Venku Naidu who had a rowdy sheet dated back to 2007, had changed over the years and had applied for police clearance certificate for a passport for a job in Turkey.
But since his name was listed, he was not able to get it, said Mr. Sinha.
Keeping such incidents in mind, the police have started the ‘Marpu’ programme, wherein the names can be deleted, if the officers concerned feel that he deserves.
In Visakhapatnam there are about 440 persons on whom rowdy-sheets are being maintained at different police stations.
“It is understood that the process of continuance or retention or deletion of history sheets of rowdies needs to be streamlined. It is further observed that there is no uniformity in benchmarking the standards set by the jurisdictional officers concerned, while taking a call on them,” said Mr. Sinha.
Review committee
Keeping this in mind, it has been decided to form a commissionerate-level committee consisting of jurisdictional DCP (law and order), ADCP (City Special Branch), ACP Task Force and jurisdictional ACP to review all history sheets of rowdies in compliance with the AP Police Manual orders and recommend continuance or deletion or closure of the sheets. The committee will sit in the conference hall of the Commissionerate on all Mondays from 11.30 a.m. and rowdy-sheeters can directly approach the committee or through the SHOs of the police stations concerned. “If their behaviour have been good over the last couple of years and they have not involved in any law and order issues, then the committee can take a call for closure of the sheets. We have also made arrangements for counselling, if required,” said the Police Commissioner