What if the policeman manning the Delhi Police control could understand and converse in English? Wouldn’t it have made it much easier for a non-Hindi-speaking caller to put across his message? For those who aren’t proficient in Hindi, Delhi police is planning to send around 200 of its officers for spoken English training. It may tie up with Amity University for this. Well, the idea is still being mooted, but many are excited about the move, if it happens.
Twenty-three-year-old professional Dolly Raginee from Assam has been in Delhi for the past three years. Dolly can understand Hindi but can’t converse in it. “This will be a good move. I am forever struggling with Hindi. And imagine, god forbid, if in an emergency situation I have to call the police, it will take ages for me to put across my point,” she says.
Dolly pointed out a recent incident of the rape of a call center employee, who called the PCR van, but said that the policeman on the line could not understand her as her Hindi isn’t very good and he wasn’t very fluent with English.
“This is going to be of great help to the girls from North-Eastern states as they are most vulnerable and many aren’t fluent with Hindi,” says Aashima Sejpal, a young professional.
“Apart from English language training, there should be some sort of etiquette training for policemen as well. Rather than being intimidating, a policeman should be looked up as a knight in shining armour, so that girls can seek help even for eve-teasing,” says Neha Bajaj, 19, a student.