Delhi Police launch scholarship to help children of constables

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police launched a scholarship scheme for children of its constables and head constables last week. The initiative has been named Wazeefa, an Urdu word that means scholarship.

Under the scheme, a ‘onetime grant’ will be given to children of constables who are aspiring to pursue careers in fields such as sports, medical, vocational trainings, arts and culture. Through this scheme, the Delhi Police will also provide a one-time financial assistance to specially-abled children of head constables and constables for treatment and studies.

“It is a need-based financial assistance that will be given to only those wards of constabularies who are selected by the members of the police welfare society. The scheme has been divided into two sections – for differently-abled children and for other children. The priority will be given to such children of constabularies who are physically or mentally challenged,” said RP Upadhyay, joint commissioner of police (southeastern range).

The scheme was launched last Sunday by Delhi Police chief Alok Kumar Verma on the concluding day of the two-day Diwali Utsav-2016, an annual event organised by the police families welfare society (PFWS). Following Verma’s announcement, a message drafted by the IT department of the force on behalf of the police commissioner was sent to all 60,000-plus serving head constables and constables.

Through the message, the police commissioner asked the constabularies to apply for the assistance for their wards.

Forty-five children have already applied for Wazeefa. Twenty-eight among them are specially-abled.

The police commissioner has asked all district DCPs and in-charge of other departments to encourage the constabularies working under them to apply for the one-time grant.

A senior police officer said that the funding for Wazeefa will be generated from revenue

earned through various cultural events organised by the PFWS.

The organisation is run by wives of senior Delhi Police officers under the leadership of the wife of the police chief. The members produce and sell handcrafted items.

The revenue generated through such business would also be used for Wazeefa.

“Apart from revenue earned through such events, donations collected from public sector undertakings such as Indian Oil Corporation, Steel Authority of India, GAIL, etc and private banks will also be used for providing financial help to children of constabularies,” said Dependra Pathak, joint CP (southwestern range) and spokesperson of the Delhi Police.