Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
INTERVIEW
- Pravin Dixit, who retires as Maharashtra Police chief on July 31, talks to ‘The Hitavada’ on new initiatives, his achievements, and career experiences
By Dheeraj Fartode
In his almost four-decade long career, he has donned police uniform with pride. He has seen policing evolve through various challenging phases. Now, on the verge of hanging up his boots Pravin Dixit, Director General of Police, Maharashtra, feels that there is a need to keep tab on fronts of terrorist or Naxalite organisations operating in urban areas.
“It is with this motive that a Bill of internal security law has been prepared. We sincerely hope that State Legislature will pass Maharashtra Protection of Internal Security Act or MPISA soon. It would help us (cops) in keeping in check the frontal organisations of terrorists and Naxalites,” Dixit told ‘The Hitavada’ in an exclusive interview. He was in the city on Sunday, after attending an important meeting at New Delhi.
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| DGP Pravin Dixit makes a point during interaction with ‘The Hitavada’ Reporter Dheeraj Fartode at RPTS here on Sunday. |
According to the State police chief, MPISA would empower the police force to initiate action against frontal organisations raising fund and organising programmes to create sympathy for of terrorists, Naxalites etc in urban centres of the State. Referring to recent controversies over some organisations acting as propaganda machinery for terrorists, he said that such elements would be put behind bars once MPISA comes into existence. It may be worth mention here that Dixit has served on deputation as Assistant Director in Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Ladakh.
Underlining the necessity of MPISA for law enforcement agencies like police, Dixit said that these agencies did not have any supporting law to help them launch a crack-down against fronts of terrorist outfits. MPISA is based on Chhattisgarh Government’s Special Public Security Act (SPSA). But, Maharashtra has updated and elaborated the sections in Chhattisgarh law while preparing draft of MPISA.
It may be mentioned that police have been receiving inputs about urban fronts of Naxalites and various terrorist organisations. These fronts are acting like think-tanks and propaganda machinery in urban centres of Maharashtra and also providing inputs of security forces to anti-national elements.
On retirement and challenge for successor
Pravin Dixit, an IPS officer of 1977 batch, will retire on July 31. Having gained a rich experience in policing in various capacities, Dixit also shed some light on challenges before his successor in the office of Director General of Police. “Establishing connect of police with youngsters will be an important challenge. Today, youngsters are socially and technologically sound. They have great energy to shape social life of the State. Giving positive direction to energetic youngsters will help in improving policing in State,” said Dixit wearing a smile that reflected his understanding of the issue.
‘Police Mitra scheme, a big success’
In his long career, Dixit himself faced several challenges. Asked as to what was his high point in his police service, he replies instantly -- implementation of ‘Police Mitra’ scheme. “The scheme has received enormous response from all corners of Maharashtra. Two lakh enthusiastic citizens have enrolled under ‘Police Mitra’ scheme and one lakh of them are connected through Police Mitra App. All these volunteers are helping police in discharge of duties more effectively on daily basis,” observed the officer who served as Additional Director General (Training), Commissioner of Police (Nagpur), and Director General of Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Another achievement for him is improvement in conviction rate in Maharashtra. “Efforts to increase conviction rate are now bearing fruits and the State has achieved 33.5 per cent conviction rate this year,” he added with a smile.
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| DGP Pravin Dixit interacting with 'The Hitavada' Reporter Dheeraj Fartode on Sunday. |
Social media connect between cops and citizens
Pravin Dixit, who served as Advisor to Mauritius Government, has given momentum to modernisation of police force with emphasis on enhancing security in public places to launching ‘social media initiative’ for better connect between citizens and police.
Closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera networks have been installed at 800 out of total 1,100 police stations across Maharashtra and remaining would be connected within a year. After becoming State Police chief, Dixit emphasised that police stations and district units should launch social networking Apps and start Facebook page, Twitter handle, WhatsApp number etc for better connect with citizens. This will help cops in giving quicker response to citizens.
“Every person wanted police station and police post nearest to his/her place. However, it is not possible to establish these many new police stations/posts as the State does not have resources for this. But, newly launched Apps are resolving these issues as people can lodge their grievances from their mobile phones. We have noticed that police response also has become faster as cops are getting real-time information from citizens,” Dixit told ‘The Hitavada’.
Dixit is academically very sound. He has to his credit a research on ‘Eradication of Child Labour’, which was published by University of California, Berkeley (USA). Keen interest in policing duties, meticulousness in academics, toughness in administration, successful planning, and quicker execution of plans are hallmarks of his personality.
Of course, just a week or so before calling it a day from the office of Maharashtra Police chief, Dixit is happy that he could execute all his plans. As he said, “Not a single of my plans has remained on paper,” one could feel sense of pride and satisfaction in his voice.
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