CAMPUS EVENTS CULTURE ADVENTURE EMPOWERING FAMILIES OF DELHI POLICE
Everyone is hoping Indian athletes to win big in Olympics 2020. But, one organisation that is working to make the dream come true is Police Families Welfare Society (PFWS). It is training the children of Delhi Police for Olympics 2020.
Suchana Patnaik, president, PFWS, is happy that two children, Nishta and Dhruvay — trained under the society have qualified for nationals in shooting. “The previous president Shefali Verma took many initiatives. There are about 155 police colonies in Delhi, and we had only one welfare centre. But in the last one year, we have opened 10 centres, and planning to come up with more,” says Suchana, who has been heading PFWS since February; after her husband, Amulya Patnaik took charge as Commissioner of Police, Delhi.
The society, which was established in 1972 for the welfare of police personnel, wasn’t prominently active, until a few years back. Recently, the society organised a Swachhta drive from October 2 to 5. “We meet twice a week. The meeting is attended by centre staff, wives, team leaders and we work on the road maps and sort out the issues,” shares Patnaik.
Among other initiatives, Mission Olympics 2020 is their dream project and has covered the maximum police colonies. “We started training children at Summer Camps this year — choosing five games from the Olympics format. In the first season, we selected 100 kids. In the second season, 150 are shortlisted. We help them, but being an NGO, we need sponsors, too,” says Patnaik.
Alongside, there are regular workshops and seminars organised twice a month. The training centre also has stitching, yoga, aerobics, dance and other activities. “Celebrities, physiotherapist, nutritionists and sports experts conduct sessions to boost the morale of our kids. This is apart from the everyday training session at New Police lines, by trained Delhi Police coaches,” adds Patnaik. The welfare work is extended to all the families. Jyoti Chahal, activity in charge, PFWS, says, “We want to empower the kids, and wives of our entire staff.”