Telangana State police wins FICCI smart policing award 2022 for worksite school initiative under child safety

HYDERABAD: The Rachakonda Police Commissionerate's worksite school project, initiated in 2017 by then-Commissioner of Police M Mahesh Bhagwat, now ADG CID, won the Smart Police Award on Friday at the FICCI New Delhi Homeland Security conference on Friday.

Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar hailed Mahesh Bhagwat and his team for their worksite school programme, which aims to provide basic education to children rescued from hazardous brick kiln industries.

The Telangana Police's Worksite schools project, initiated by then Rachakonda Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat, was shortlisted for the Smart Policing Award under the Child Safety category by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

This initiative was shortlisted from 117 entries submitted by 23 organizations, including 17 state police forces, 6 CAPFs, and other central agencies.

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Vivekananda International Foundation jointly organized 'Home Land Security-2023' award ceremony, recognizing Mahesh M. Bhagwat IPS with Smart Policing award on September 15, 2023.

In January 2017, 370 children of Odisha migrant workers were rescued from brick kilns in Choutuppal and Bommalaramaram mandals of Bhongir Yadadri District, Rachakonda Police Commissionarate.

As part of their rehabilitation, the then-Commissioner of Police Rachakonda, Mahesh.M.Bhagwat, collaborated with various agencies such as the District Collectors of Yadadri Bhongir, Ranga Reddy, and Medchal Malkajgiri to provide a mid-day meal scheme, class rooms, transportation, school uniforms etc for the rescued children.

He also worked with the Brick Kiln Owners Associations, which provided school uniforms and local transportation for children, and with a Civil Society organisation led by Umi Daniel and Suresh Gutta, which provided teachers from Odisha and Maharashtra to train rescued children in their native languages.

Worksite schools in Odisha/Maharashtra run from January to May annually, allowing children with integration certificates to return to their native states for higher education. Over 6,500 Oriya and 55 Maharashtra state children were rescued from brick kilns and received their education in worksite schools.

The project, involving multi-partner collaboration, enforced the Right to Education Act and zero tolerance for child labor, receiving recognition from Kailash Satyarthi and the International Association of Chief of Police, America in 2018.

Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar also commended the Rachakonda Police Commissionarate for bringing national and international awards to Telangana Police.

ADG CID Mahesh Bhagwat acknowledged the work of Rachakonda commissionerate police ranks, particularly those in the Home Guards, SPOs DCPs LB Nagar and Malkajgiri zones. He also hailed the efforts of former Collectors Anita Ramchandran IAS and Raghunandan Rao, along with Aid et Action NGO coordinator Suresh Gutta and Brick Kiln Owners Association president Rajendra Reddy.

Mahesh Bhagwat thanked Telangana DGP Anjani Kumar for his motivational leadership and continuous encouragement of citizen-friendly policing.