Hyderabad: The Telangana police have been honoured with the Smart Policing award for their initiative ‘Worksite School’ under the child safety category.
An initiative by the former Rachakonda CP and current ADG CID Mahesh Bhagwat, a Worksite School runs between January and May, for basic education to children rescued from hazardous brick kiln industries.
Students are given Integration Certificates to ensure that they are able to pursue higher education when they return to their native place.
The project of the Rachakonda police commissioner was initiated in January 2017 to protect the rights of the children.
Mahesh Bhagwat received the award at the Homeland Security conference at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) house in Delhi on Friday, September 15.
Following the acknowledgement, Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar appreciated the initiative of Bhagwat and the team towards the noble cause.
On December 14, 2022, FICCI invited entries from Telangana Police for the award for best practices in Smart Policing-2022.
Amongst 117 entries received from 23 organisations including 17 state police forces, 6 CAPFS and other central agencies, along with the Worksite Schools project of Rachakonda police were short-listed.
In January 2017, during Operation Smile, 370 Odisha Migrant workers’ children were rescued from brick kilns in the Choutuppal and Bommalaramaram mandals of Bhongir Yadadri District.
As part of their rehabilitation then, Mahesh Bhagwat involved district collectors of Yadadri Bhongiri, Ranga Reddy and Medchal Malkajgiri to provide a mid-day meal scheme and classrooms for children.
On the other hand, the Brick Kiln Owners Association were directed to provide school uniforms for children along with local transportation facility.
Likewise, the Civil Society Aide et Action led by Umi Daniel and Suresh Gutta provided teachers from Odisha and Maharashtra, to teach children rescued from child labour in their mother tongue.
So far, 6500 Oriya children and 55 children from Maharashtra have been rescued from brick kilns and received education in worksite schools.
This project with multi-partner convergence ensured the Right to Education Act was strictly implemented along with zero tolerance to child labour.
Mahesh Bhagwat, after accepting this award, acknowledged the work done by Rachakonda police ranks from home guards to DCPS.
He particularly appreciated the contribution of the then collector Yadadri Anita Ramachandran and Rangareddy collector Raghunanandan Rao.
He further thanked Anjani Kumar for his motivational leadership and continuous encouragement to police for citizen-friendly policing.
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