Nagpur police’s Bharosa Cell wins trust, resolves 1,696 family disputes in 3 yrs

NAGPUR: City police’s ‘Bharosa cell’, a unique family dispute redressal unit, has helped resolve 1,696 family matters in the last three years with a success rate of little more than 36%.
The concept of a counselling and dispute resolution unit on the lines of Bharosa Cell, which was formed in 2017, was also replicated elsewhere in the state.
CP Amitesh Kumar, who has been reviewing the dispute redressal mechanism and regular cases of the cell, said that around 40% of the complaints revolve around family disputes. “In view of the complainants from various parts of the city facing issues with approaching the cell at its current location, we may either open a new unit or an extension in Central Nagpur,” said the CP and added, “Our priority is to amicably resolve issues and save families from shattering,” he said.
The cell, a brainchild of former CP K Venkatesham, has attended 1,513 complaints or grievances till September this year. Under senior inspector Seema Surve, the cell has resolved 486 cases.
Last year, the cell had attended to 1,438 cases and resolved 475. In 2019, it tasted success in more than 44% of cases after taking up 1,649 and resolving 735.
PI Surve said a team of eight counsellors attends to the complainants. “We are officially hearing around 225 matters on a monthly basis. First, we listen to the problem and then create a case. Then, the other party is allowed to put forth his or her stand. Then, a joint meeting or counselling session is held,” she said.
Surve said the aim is to settle the dispute gradually through repeated joint counselling sessions. “We do face challenges in handling inter-personal grievances, especially when one of the parties turns aggressive,” said the woman inspector.
She said that if the complainant wants to continue staying at their kin’s place during the dispute then the matter is referred to the ‘protection officer’. “If we see that the issue is serious and requires legal action, then it is referred to the police stations for registration of FIR,” she said.
The cop said that they deal in cases involving persons from various strata of society. “We have managed to reconcile many clashing couples and save families,” said Surve.
The popularity of the cell has promoted independent corporator Abha Pande to hand over a representation to the state home minister Dilip Walse Patil, who was in the city for crime review meeting this month, asking for a branch or a new unit at four more locations or zones in the city. She has requested Walse Patil to strengthen Bharosa Cell.