NHRC-IGNOU online training programme on human rights for Police Personnel launched

New Delhi, February 1st, 2011

Mr. Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, launched an online training programme on human rights for police personnel in New Delhi today. The programme has been developed in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Open University, IGNOU.

Speaking at a function organized at IGNOU to mark the occasion, Justice Balakrishnan said that it is the duty of the Commission to sensitize officers and the people about the human rights. This kind of focused training module becomes all the more important given the fact that various provisions of law and amendments therein sometimes take long to reach the police officers, down the hierarchy, whose responsibility is to maintain the law and order. In a democratic country, police have major responsibilities in not only maintaining the law and order but also supporting the criminal justice system among others. The NHRC Chairperson said that IGNOU has evolved as an international learning centre and that is why NHRC has collaborated with it for developing the online training programme for police personnel.

Mr. P.C. Sharma, Member, NHRC said that human rights never received such a focus as it is now in the police training curriculum. He said that senior police officers have a duty to orient their subordinates towards human rights. Crime detection, investigation and human rights go hand in hand. Human rights are linked with the dignity of an individual. Senior officers will need to shed feudal approach in their functioning and supervise their subordinate officers and staff with a collaborative approach. He said that going by the number of complaints received in the Commission, sometimes it feels that the police are growing insensitive. They need to change their attitude towards women, children, dalits and helpless people. Nevertheless, Mr. Sharma said that NHRC while advocating for the promotion and protection of human rights of the people also cares for the human rights concerns of the police personnel and their tough and demanding service conditions, and it has taken up the issue of reforms in their service conditions time and again with the concerned authorities.

Earlier, welcoming the guests, Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor, IGNOU hailed the launch of online training programme on human rights for police personnel as first of its kind. He expressed hope that this programme will be successful and will be implemented by the different police organizations in all parts of the country.

Initially, the first basic programme launched today was attended by the police personnel in three police academies in Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The officers present in the academies had an online interaction with the Chairperson, Members and senior officers of the Commission on human rights related issues.

Keeping in view the tight schedule of the police personnel, the tailor made programme aims to equip them with the knowledge of the human rights and how they can apply these while dealing with public. The interactive sessions during the training will also help in understanding their practical difficulties and experiences thereby bridging the gap between the police and the common man.

The duration of the programme is five days. On the first three days, participants will be taught all the six units i.e. two units each day, through interactive lectures by the resource persons using multimedia tools in a simple and an interesting manner. On the fourth and the fifth day, interactive counselling session will be held, wherein all the participants and the programme coordinator/resource person will interact with each other through the web-conferencing mode. The programme can be accessed as and when required.

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