The right to know

The right to know
New Indian Express

Night patrolling can be a success.In a recent police-public interaction, residents evinced an interest in joining the police during night patrol in their areas. The idea is not a new one and had been mooted several years ago.

The question is whether it is practical and can be sustained, especially in a city like Bangalore which is home to an increasing number of people from across the country.

“This can be sustained only if there is a perfect rapport between the people and the police. What is being done now is a formal relationship which cannot last long unless it is translated into an informal relationship.

“To achieve this, there should be complete honesty and transparency on the part of the police. The people should have confidence in them. It should become a habit.

“These measures can be taken to any extent -- you can stay in your home and report to the police if there is a problem. Sometimes, when citizens patrol areas along with the police, there could be altercations or other incidents. But merely because of such incidents, the patrolling should not be stopped.

“It is a good thing and can bring good results if carried out in a proper manner. That is real community policing.’’

(Retired DGP L Revannasiddaiah was the Bangalore City Police Commissioner who had introduced the Neighbourhood Watch programme.)

Mobiles should not be misused Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) banned the use of mobile phones on its campuses recently. Mobile phones are highly popular with college students and have proven to be a nuisance time and again. Mobile phones are everywhere these days and almost every student has access to them. Although they are banned at VTU, we have not banned the use of this technology, since we have not had any complaints from our faculty.

But if mobiles become a nuisance and if the use of the technology comes down to a certain level, which has connotations to cheating in exams or misbehaviour in classes, then imposing a ban becomes essential.

I have not come across any incident where mobiles have disrupted a class in our University. Thankfully our students have behaved well and we hope they continue to do so.

M S Thimappa is the Vice Chancellor of the Bangalore University