The city of Nagpur in the Indian state of Maharashtra is known for its vibrant culture and rapidly developing infrastructure and lifestyle. Over the past few decades the city has experienced a drastic change in its social and infrastructural definitions. The city’s population has increased manifold and the city too has spread its expanses in all directions. A growth has led to a rise in the number of people owning private vehicles along with the number of other vehicles plying on the roads due to an ever increasing population.
Over the recent few months the police are finding it extremely arduous to man the entirety of the city’s roads and ensure the safety as well the fluidity of the city’s traffic. In order to circumnavigate this contemporary crisis, the city’s police have officially let college students to man and regulate the roads. This initiative has been taken in view of the shortage of men for vigilance and also to spread awareness among the masses.
Recently the city’s traffic police officials and volunteers from the NGO Jan Akrosh approached the principals G S College of Commerce and Hislop College respectively on this regard. The officials urged them to allow the members of the National Social Service belonging to their colleges to man the city’s busy and cumbersome traffic joints in both morning and evening peak hours.
“The initiative is expected to build and boost mutual trust and relations between the public and the policemen,” said M Gawade, the assistant police commissioner (traffic) of Nagpur. Top officials of the NGO Jan Akrosh also stressed on the fact of inducting students for regulating traffic. They also explained how students can really be helpful for the police and become active partners for the police department.
N Y Khandait, the principal of G S College of Commerce said, “Such initiatives are meant to be socially useful which will bring a change in the mindset of the people and build a new relationship between the forces and the public.”
On this note he also added, “G S College for Commerce would adopt two bustling traffic junctions of the city which includes the vital Law College Square. The NSS cadets from both the junior and senior colleges will man the traffic joints from 1030 hours to 1130 hours in the morning and from 1630 hours to 1730 hours in the evening.”
The principal of Hislop College, Dipti Christian also assured in her own words, “Similar efforts to regulate the traffic during peak hours and help the policemen in their duties will also be carried out by the NSS cadets of the college.”
All individuals involved with the initiative are hopeful that the induction of college students in this venture will serve many purposes at once while something useful is being done for the betterment of the city’s traffic woes. Not only will the traffic police will get assistance as they are short on manpower, but it will also make the youth aware about the titbits of the traffic rules. The youth of the society are expected to benefit generously from the cause.
