[1]For head constable S. Sivalingam, life has been very kind. The limitation of khaki never stopped him from doing what he liked most. Sivalingam, who now looks after the sport affairs of the city police, had sparked the revival of the Boys Club in the police department in 1997.
“As a child I benefited from the Boys Club in Chinthatripet. From 1973 for four years I used to get tuitions at the club. Boys Club, was conceived in 1964 by F.V. Arul, a former state police chief, to educate children from poor backgrounds and prevent them from taking the path of crime. However, by the early eighties there was nobody to carry the concept forward,” recalls Sivaligam, 48, an athlete who never bothered to pull strings to get posted in lucrative wings of the police department despite putting in 25 years of service.
In 1997, Sivalingam and his friend Vijayan, who was working at a private hospital, decided to revive this. They approached the then commissioner V.K. Rajagopalan and joint commissioner T. Radhakrishnan with the request. The idea was immediately accepted by the officials and the Chinthatripet Friends Sports Club became the first one to come under the umbrella of Police Boys Club.
From the city police commissioner to the local police inspector, all officials have been extending a helping hand to the Boys Club where children are given guidance in their academic and sports.
“At present, we have as many as 120 such clubs functioning in the city. The clubs are now called Police Boys & Girls Club after we started allowing girls also to use the facilities of these clubs,” says a senior police official.
Sivalingam, who is attached to the Armed Reserve police, now spends his time helping the children in sports and education.
“I benefited from this. So I want these children also to benefit from the club. Some of the boys who were part of the club are now earning well. One boy even got a job abroad,” says Sivlingam, a father of two, with pride.
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/cop9jpgcropdisplayjpg-261