Karawal Nagar gets its own Mohalla Rakshaks
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Tuesday rolled out the first project chosen by city residents in a mohalla sabha held earlier this year by launching seven dedicated teams for area surveillance in the Karawal Nagar assembly constituency.
The seven teams, named Mohalla Rakshak Dal (colony security team), are mandated to guard a colony each from 10pm to 6am and extend help to any person in distress, apart from patrolling the area on the lines of a beat constable, officials said.
The demand to constitute a dedicated area surveillance team was raised in the mohalla sabhas conducted in the constituency as part of the participatory budget introduced by the AAP government on pilot basis earlier this year.
“Twenty-eight local youths have been inducted into the team. They have been given a torch, a cycle, a whistle and uniform. All of these youths have been civil defence volunteers in the past. They would draw a monthly salary at the rate of `463 per day,” said Delhi tourism minister and Karawal Nagar MLA Kapil Mishra.
A formal eight-day training has been imparted to the men inducted in the team. The team will function under the newly-constituted Delhi Urban Development Agency (DUDA) headed by the area district magistrate. North East district magistrate Azimul Haque told Hindustan Times that the team would act as the ‘eyes and ears of the government’.
“The mandate of the team is two-fold, patrolling and help people in distress especially the vulnerable sections of the society. The team would gradually create a database of senior citizens in the area. All such city residents would also have the number of these volunteers, who could be approached in time of any distress,” he said.
Bajrang Gupta, a resident of Khajoori A-block, who has been inducted in the team said he is looking forward to his new assignment. “The formal training has been an addition to the work we used to do as civil defence volunteers. We are fully trained in extending help to people and the standard drill to be followed in such situations,” he said.