Coimbatore’s ‘Police Akka’ scheme likely to be adopted across Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: A two-year-old initiative of the Coimbatore police is likely to be replicated by all districts and city police commissionerates across the state to make college campuses safer and ensure that sexual harassment complaints don’t go unheard.

The ‘Police Akka’ (sister) scheme, where an experienced police woman is deputed to every college having female students to build a sense of trust and solve their harassment-related issues, was suggested as a model to be emulated at a special meeting convened by Chief Secretary N Muruganandam with representatives of all colleges across the state, officials said.

Conceptualised by Coimbatore commissioner V Balakrishnan, the scheme works outside the ambit of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) set up under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act. It was introduced after feedback from students expressing reservations about approaching the college management about such issues fearing judgment from authorities. Some students were also apprehensive that escalation to the level of a police complaint might lead to their parents stopping their education.

The scheme, thus, was devised as a trust-based problem solving method, a senior official said. Personnel from the level of constable to senior sub-inspector (SSI) were selected based on their aptitude and empathetic working style and assigned to 71 colleges in the city, the official added.

Under the scheme, the ‘police akka’ is introduced to the students during the orientation programme at the start of the academic year. She meets them once a fortnight. Her contact number is displayed on the notice board and shared to the students with an assurance of complete confidentiality.