Community policing involves the police working closely with the community to identify and solve problems, rather than simply reacting to calls for service. It is based on the idea of service, and that the community is an integral part of the policing process and that by working together, the police and the community can create a safer and more liveable environment.

 Jhargram Police leaves no stone unturned to ensure that it's community policing endeavours reach up to the last mile and serve the most needy. A compilation of some of these initiatives and their impact on the community.

"Disha" which literally translates to direction, is a community policing initiative of Jhargram District Police, which was started across 79 Gram Panchayats of Jhargram District. As part of Disha initiative, the District Police has set up "Free Coaching Centres" at 79 Gram Panchyats under Jhargram District where the poor and under privileged students from Class-V to Class X are given education as a supplement to conventional school education. These centres are run by qualified Officers/Constables/Civil Volunteers under close supervision of superior officers.

As of now, there are 93 such coaching centres where 4557 students attend classes everyday except Sunday.

Every two seconds, a patient in India needs blood. However, the lack of donors and hence the problem of immediate availability of blood within reachable limits compounded by the lack of a platform to connect the donors with the recipients leads to loss of precious lives. Under Project Daan, the Jhargram District Police hits the bulls eye by connecting the pool of voluntary blood donors from amongst the Police personnel, NVF, CVF, NGOs and others with anyone in need of blood anywhere within 200 KMS of Jhargram District through a mobile application developed for this purpose. The app also has an inbuilt helpline number to reach out in cases of emergency. A noble initiative such as this reflects the concern of Jhargram Police for the well being of one and all. Till now 35 patients have been donated blood through this application by police personnel of Jhargram District.

In the series of career and employment oriented community policing initiatives of the Jhargram district police another shining example is the Lakshyabhed Free Coaching Programme by the District Police. Initially launched in 2019, the initiative aims at providing free of cost, quality coaching and guidance to students who are preparing for various recruitment examinations such as the UPSC, CSE, WBCS, Banking etc.

After a brief hiatus, the programme was revamped and re-launched in 2022.It now covers all police stations under Jhargram district and more than 300 aspirants are being provided free guidance for competitive exams through offline as well as online modes.

The faculty is drawn from SDPO/DSP and officer ranks serving in the Jhargram Police who have themselves cleared one or more of such exams and a few other experts who train students for recruitment examinations. Lakshyabhed programme has received tremendous response from the youth in Jhargram district right from the introductory sessions to the regular classes.

02 candidates from ‘Lakshyabhed’ got selected in West Bengal Police- 2022 where as 47 out of 58 candidates who attended Mock Interview at Jhargram District Police Lines, got selected in West Bengal Police- 2022.

In 2023,  5 out of 11 candidates who appeared for the mock interviews under Lakshyabhed initiative got selected as Sub-Inspectors of Police in WBP.

Amongst the most prominent of our endeavours to empower citizens and make them future ready, is the Computer Literacy and Training Centre(COLT).

Inaugurated on 13th December 2022 at the Jhargram District police campus in presence of MIC SHG and Self Employment Smt Birbaha Hansda, SP Jhargram Shri Arijit Sinha and other dignitaries, the COLT aims to impart basic training on computer language skills to forest dwellers and their family members so that they become job ready, skilled enough to compete in the job market. Every batch is trained for a good 45 days wherein classes are conducted three days in a week.

The training centre is run by Jhargram District Police and CSR supported by West Bengal Forest Development Corporation.

Till now 03 batches of Computer Training (45 days basic Course + Tally) have been completed and a total of 32 students have completed the training. Certificates have been provided to all the successful candidates.

Jhargram District Police, in collaboration with Kolkata based NGO Nephro Immune Forum launched Mission Susasthya. Under this initiative, the aim was to join hands to organise 12 free medical camps over a period of one year at remote, unserved, or previously Maoist insurgency affected villages. The purpose of these camps is to raise awareness, diagnose and provide treatment for diabetes, arthritis, hypertension and associated medical conditions.

Health camps focusing on these specific ailments are a first in Jhargram District. These camps have received extremely positive response from the common people of the area as the patients are provided quality medical care as well as free medicines at these camps. Dr Atanu Pal and Dr Sourav Bag, both attached to premier medical facilities in Kolkata and have voluntarily contributed to the mission.

Till now 14 such susasthya camp have been organized at various interior locations of this district since it’s inception from July-2022.

“PRATYARPAN” the programme has been launched by the Jhargram District Police, under which stolen recovered articles are returned to their respective owners through a small programme. Special emphasis has been given on early recovery of mobiles.

As recently, on 21.06.2024, a total of 383 recovered mobile Phones were returned to their actual owners (amounting nearly Rs. 48.35 lacs).

Since the inception of the Pratyarpan initiative, 3421 mobile phones worth  more  than Rs. 4.72 crore have been returned to their rightful owners!!!

Sahay, which literally means a helping hand, is a flagship initiative of Jhargram District Police, where the spirit of service, compassion and humanity enables us to reach up to the remotest of corners, connecting with people and solving their issues related to policing and beyond, in the hope of creating a lasting bond with the society. Sahay camps are organised on a regular basis by all police stations covering interior and remote locations to maximise the utilisation of potentiality of this scheme. Various local issues are heard and district police subsequently tries to address those issues in proper forum to ensure quick disposal. These camps also act as a point of communication with common people where various messages like awareness on cybercrime, against child marriage, need for education etc are communicated with them by the district police authority.

Till now, 41 such Sahay Camps have been organised at various locaitons of Jhargram District.

Jhargram District police, along with Vivekananda Sastha Sebha Shangha, vivekananda Mission Ashram Netra Niketan, Jhargram Lions Club & Manab Jyoti Trust, regularly organises such camps under various police station areas under the overall aegis of its SAHAY initiative. At such camps, patients get treatments and consultations for different segments like Nuro, Gyno, pediatric and General by the expert Doctors and along with eye checkups and even registration for cataract operations.

Jhargram District police, under the leadership of SP Shri Arijit Sinha, IPS, entered into a unique collaboration with Uber India under its Saathi initiative. Under this, Uber, via its fleet partners shall associate themselves with drivers who have been trained by the Jhargram District Police as a part of its community policing initiative The chosen drivers shall be given an opportunity to register themselves on the Uber platform in Kolkata and surrounding areas free of cost which in turn would enable them to have an assured and regular source of monthly income.

Saathi has been instrumental in opening up new avenues of income generation for the unemployed yet skilled youth of Jhargram and is a model that can be replicated and expanded in days to come.

To encourage people to move away from a life of petty crime and illegal liquour distillation, Mushroom cultivation has been undertaken under this initiative, as it has high return, low gestation period and it does not require huge capital investments.

Presently two centers have been instituted under Gopiballavpur PS(16 people employed) and Nayagram PS(10 people employed here) area of Jhargram district employing 26 people in total from different families. It gives approximately Rs. 7000-8000 per month per person on an average yield of mushroom at these two places. Presently mushroom procurement is taking place from Odisha to local markets. Srijan initiative will help source this mushroom from within the Jhargram district, West Bengal and give high profit to local people.

Jhargram Food Friends initiative was launched by Jhargram District Police in collaboration with Jhargram District Hotel Owners Association, UAL Bengal Ltd, Maity Hatcheries, Sarada Rice Mill and a number of other caterers from Jhargram town.

Under this unique programme, more than 170 kids and needy persons are being provided with one basic hot meal in a day (seven days a week) under Jhargram and Sankrail PS areas. The meals shall be collected and distributed by dedicated police teams formed for this purpose.

The underlying concept of this project is to address issues of malnutrition and undernourishment for children and other beneficiaries.

The aim of project “UJJIBAN” is to impart basic reading and writing skills to the interested villagers in the age group of 40-60 years.

This would enable them not only to be able to garner the various benefits under the plethora of social welfare schemes of the Government of West Bengal, but to also live a dignified and self reliant life, helping them in numerous walks of life.

The initiative was popularized amongst masses on various occasions including on the International Literacy Day!

Cyber Crime, cyber security and cyber hygiene awareness seminars are conducted regularly at various venues across the district, informing and educating about the latest modus operandi of the fraudstars and ways to remain safe.