At the time of print, D. Sivanandhan, after completing one of the longest and most productive tenures as Police Commissioner of Thane, has been transferred to the post of Commissioner of the State Intelligence Department - Maharashtra. Here he shares with us his views on the development of Thane, the police force and the citizens they serve.

What gave you the idea of creating this mini-township in Thane which you have accomplished over the last 2-3 years?
When you first arrive at a new place, the first thing that strikes you is how many things you can change for the better. When I came to Thane from Nagpur, where I had also accomplished similar activities, I realized that every structure related to the police was built in the year 1920 by the British. This included the bungalow where I live, the buildings where the officers live, the buildings where the constables live, the parade ground, the tool shed and the canteen. The places where men did their daily work were fast becoming antiquated and were not up to standard.

The picture emerges in your mind of what all can be done and you make a quick list of what to do in the first few days. And as a police officer, you visit all the places to assess the situation. I noticed the unseemly conditions, the unhygienic situation and various other things that could be quickly rectified. That is when I decided I will have this place looking like a military base before I leave. I have 1500 families living in my area. During my interaction with the people I evolved from my original position on incentives. I discovered that more than giving a salary hike to policemen, it is better to provide good education for their children and good health for the family. If I give an additional Rs.2000 to the men, they may spend it on various things like buying a car, a bike, liquor or spend it on any other activity. Providing good education to the children did not seem like a priority at that time.

I also noticed that some of them have been going to reputed local schools and paying Rs. 50000 to 1 lakh as donation which they obviously cannot afford. A policeman who works for 40 years as a constable inspires his son to become the same. Several years are spent in the same room which is only about 180 sq. ft. and without a toilet. I realized that if we want to liberate the policemen from this vicious cycle of poverty, education is the only means.

English education is much sought after so an English-medium S.S.C. qualification is best because policemen and officers are liable to be transferred all over the state. I then found a piece of land opposite my office which had been converted into a garbage dump. I decided to clear the area and build a school. Once a plan was devised, we realized that we have to provide all amenities and facilities from the beginning. We cannot initially only have Kindergarten and then raise money for additional classes. Usually as the school grows, the building grows. Here however I wanted to build the school in its entirety because my time could run out and I could be posted elsewhere.

We arranged a programme by Shiamak Davar and collected funds from the public. That was during December 2005. I had hardly spent about 9-10 months here. The support we received from the public was overwhelming. We raised about Rs. 3.5 crores on Rs. 40 lakhs expenditure. The Rs. 3.1 crores was the profit with which the school was built.

We prepared a plan and presented it to the Thane Municipal Corporation for approval. By the first week of March we were able to start digging the foundation and we finished the entire school of 40000 sq ft on August 15th. Ninety-seven days from March 1st, the nursery started. This was in the year 2006. In the past 2 years, we already have 1000 children and many more want to join. We accept as much as the capacity allows and the rest of them are unfortunately denied the opportunity to join the school. It is good to see an overwhelming enthusiasm generated in Thane about admission in the school. Information regarding the school can be found at www.thanepoliceschool.com

The school is run by Goenka Educational Trust. They have another school in Thane with about 8000 children, so they have a well-established reputation. Our school is known for not taking any donation. Our school is one of the finest schools in the area. It has a state-of-the-art computer centre. It has three libraries which we continuously update with good books. It has a toy room, training room, music room, teachers' room and much more. We also have provision for building two more floors with two elevators added later. As of now, we are aiming at 2400 children studying in two shifts of 1200 each. Now we are at 1000. Before I retire, the first batch of children will have completed S.S.C. at our school. The children who have been here since Kindergarten will take 10 more years to graduate from the school. Where I will be at that time, who knows? The school however will definitely grow from strength to strength.

The infrastructure is highly impressive. We house the tallest wall-climbing facility in the country. I wanted to have a police health centre. We planned on having a 30-bed hospital but staffing was a challenge. We have only one doctor, one male ward boy and one female nurse. You cannot run a 30-bed hospital with a 3-member staff. The 24-hour commitment is too much.

I therefore planned an O.P.D. which we are linking to a scheme where we give smart cards to all policemen. They can use these smart cards to be treated at other hospitals. They can be admitted for a variety of treatments free of cost. As of today, the structure I have created has 60 doctors coming from all fields of medicine and conducting free O.P.D. treatment. If further treatment is needed, they will then go to any of the hospitals under the scheme where free treatment is provided. Initially my doctor was only giving sick reports to policemen and no treatment was being done. Now there are 5000 patients every month who come and get screened by 60 specialists. These facilities are being used very frequently and very well by the policemen.

We had the State Police games last year and because of that I built the stadium. The stadium also has a basketball ground. The whole stadium is well lit. In the night, there are flood lit facilities. You can play any game in the stadium. We have also provided an ATM facility. After I arrived in Thane, we started depositing all salaries of policemen directly into state bank accounts. With 450 people using it everyday, the ATM is the most used in all of Thane. We are giving all provisions to the people at the cheapest possible price.

A police canteen is being built in the police headquarters. I will rent it out to a private person at around Rs. 85000 a month. The rent will go towards our welfare fund. We therefore do not have to collect money from others. We will receive 12 lakhs from rent alone. Whatever infrastructure I have created will be maintained with that. The creation of a welfare fund will also allow my successor to maintain the school, the stadium and various other structures. We also saw that police martyrs are not being remembered here so we built a memorial in the park with the help of our office. We also received a free gift from Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) regarding training. I train about 4000 men and officers a year so TMC provided a training centre. It is worth Rs. 3 crores or maybe even more than that today because it is a commercial centre. We have a 200-seat capacity and state-of-the-art training facilities.

As part of the growth, NASSCOM approached us for a cyber-crime laboratory and investigation centre. They gave Rs. 20 lakhs and built one of the best cyber-crime laboratories in recent times. We have trained about 1400 officers and men in cyber-crime from all over the state, not just Thane. We have also added 25 computers to the school. In the evening we conduct a computer training programme for the officers. Thirty-five of them are selected and for 2 months we are paying a private institution to train them intensively for 4 hours everyday so that the excess capacity is not remaining unutilized. That is value-addition to the police force.

Then of course our agenda includes the laying of roads, providing water connection to the people and various other welfare activities. We have built a new police station in Bhiwandi free of cost. We have also built one welfare hall in Badlapur which is worth Rs. 30 lakhs. I am now building a welfare hall in Ambarnath for the policemen. These welfare halls are places where policemen can get married and their children's festivals can be done as well as other social events. We also have a seating hall built by my predecessor which we repaired at the cost of Rs. 15 lakhs. It is a huge hall. It can easily accommodate over a 1000 people.

We have also built an Officers' Club near the Collectors Office for people coming for court evidence. The previous club was not well maintained so we spent Rs. 20 lakhs to update it. It now resembles a good hotel. These are the basic facilities which most policemen lack. When they come to the district headquarters, they have no place to stay. They have to stay with relatives or friends. They cannot afford hotel fees. Today we have provided them with a place to stay, a place for them and their families to learn and a place to celebrate their functions.

Am I correct in saying that this is probably the only place in the whole of India which has facilities to this extent?
That would most probably be true. I do not think much along these lines as what is done elsewhere, but every individual may be interested in climbing one step above the other. There may be some schools with similar facilities and programmes such as the Delhi Police School and the Poona Police School.

Everything has a cause and effect, so am I correct in saying that this has brought more smiles to the faces and less stress?
That is absolutely correct. When you meet them you can see the hope in their eyes and mannerisms. A facility of this type is not found anywhere else in Maharashtra, not even Mumbai. I cannot speak of the country, but I can definitely speak of Maharashtra since I have moved around the state for 32 years. Our men are very happy that so much is being done for them.

Do you see such things happening in other areas? Is the government or other authorities encouraging this or have they taken notice of this?
The government has taken notice in the sense that they have been giving all necessary permission for using land and facilities. We are also part of the government so it is our duty to serve the people. The people are appreciative. There is much appreciation from the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. R. R. Patil.

Do you see this as the best solution for encouraging more people to join the police force?
More people are joining the police force. For 200-300 vacancies, we have 80000 applicants. Most people join the police force because they admire the power that comes with it. They disregard the trauma and frustration that may set in after joining the police force. The truth is that every second day in a commisionerate like mine a policeman dies of a heart attack or various other diseases. Creating a more comfortable and efficient environment could help to bring the stress levels down. Policemen should look forward to their children blooming in front of them. My heart swells with pride when I visit the school on Independence Day or Republic Day. Seeing the happy children brings tears to my eyes. They were children who used to be deprived of all these things. Their parents must be thrilled to see the children speak English well, wear a tie and present themselves well.

We are bringing a kind of parity between society and policemen. Policemen are being looked down upon as of now, so now there is a rush of admission here. So that means our children would grow to the level of the others.

In the Western world, a police job is having a lot of facilities and comfort. You have created such an environment here in Thane district. So I am sure that these kinds of things can be followed in other areas as well.
I definitely agree. We have started a state of the art training centre in Bhiwandi where about 600 police recruits can stay. It has houses, classrooms and training centres. The government provided money for that.I started a quick response team. There are five teams in five zones. I have five modern control rooms and 31 mobiles which are on patrol. About 200 motorcycles are doing beat-marshal jobs now. I have also created a commando unit which comprises of 40 men with 20 motorcycles.

Professionally, we have brought lots of advancement. I have added six police stations. There are 31 police stations now. That means better service to the people. When you divide the same geography and multiply the police stations, the accessibility of the people to the police station is increased. In fact, recently we added 31 GPS systems to the police vans. My control room can now locate the police van's location and immediately send support. The response time for a van who calls in distress would be much reduced.

Last time when we had interviewed you, you had mentioned about being an alert citizen. So what are the new areas you have introduced in covering, controlling and reducing crime?
The last three years have fortunately not seen any serious crime at all. There have been no riots in spite of various elections and other contentious events. There have been no symptoms of organized crime. The building industry is thriving here. I suspect that is because of the fear-free atmosphere. We are adding to Thane's infrastructure by aiding the development of malls, hotels and other places. There are some fabulous properties being developed here. Quality structures are being built. That is our contribution to Thane. We provide a fear-free atmosphere for such development to bloom.

How do you balance maintaining law and order exceptionally and developing infrastructure for the police force and the people they serve? What is the secret of your success?
Doing a good job and striving for the best should be a way of life actually. I have strived for such advancement when I first started in Bombay in 1987. What we have accomplished here is not novel to me. I have been doing these things all my life. I consider this a God-given opportunity to make the lives of others better. Making one's own life better is a short-term individual goal. Making the lives of others better however is much more rewarding. As Emerson believed, success is bringing smiles to others’ faces. That is our goal. I look forward to whatever my next assignment will be and what we can accomplish. The model of Thane is also being emulated by others which brings me joy. One such school is being built in Aurangabad. The foundation stone for a school in Nagpur City has already been laid. A successful precedent has been established and hopefully this will lead to success throughout Maharashtra and across India.

Is this the first police station which is an ISO 9000?
No. In Mumbai, there are many. Out of the 31 police stations in Thane, 6 have ISO 9000 certification. It is a standard operating procedure to be followed by the policeman. They train them and grill them and bring them to shape.

With technology advancing in a significant way, do you think any new areas of crime are emerging more recently?
Cyber-crime is an area for which we are training people. At my cyber-crime laboratory, we have trained about 1400 policemen and officers from all over the state. These are modern crimes where a single man can successfully rob an entire bank. With technological crime, there are also no boundaries. That is the worst part. Residing in Russia, you are able to rob a bank in Mumbai. There are jurisdictional problems between local police stations so you can imagine the issues that arise with international crimes. Criminals however have no jurisdictional problems.

What is your message to the police and the citizens in creating a happier and more peaceful environment?
To the police, I will say that society still has much respect and a lot of expectation from you. Whenever the police requires public support, the society is overwhelmingly responsive. The police should also respond positively by creating a welcoming atmosphere in police stations. I expect the police to at least receive the visitor properly. Make him sit, give him a glass of water and listen to him patiently. The main issue today is anger-management. The people who are coming to the police stations are already suffering from so much stress and anger. If police also respond similarly, the result is terrible. That is what I want people to change. When they are relieving the stress of others, they themselves should be stress-free. They should listen to people with a smile. If I can smile then you can also smile. Victims want someone to address their problems and say that I will do my best to help you. The police should receive people properly, listen to them and attend to their problems.

To the citizens, I ask them to simply do what is right. That is it. We have some control over our lives and we have to make the best of it. Violence is not the answer. People have to learn to live in harmony with each other. I believe it is attainable.

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