Chandigarh/Jalandhar: Punjab Police has intensified efforts to build a more inclusive, gender-responsive and victim-centric policing system, with Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav inaugurating the third and final round of the gender sensitisation training programme, “Mainstreaming of Women in Punjab Police,” at the 134-year-old Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Police Academy in Phillaur on Tuesday.

Organised by the Community Affairs Division (CAD) of Punjab Police in partnership with J-PAL South Asia and the Hartek Foundation, the three-day programme will train 1,453 nominated police officials in specialised mixed, male-only and female-only groups.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that across the three statewide training rounds, 1,500–2,000 police personnel from 384 police stations were being equipped with skills for gender-responsive, rights-based and victim-centric policing, particularly while dealing with women, children and other vulnerable sections.

Emphasising citizen-centric policing, Yadav urged police personnel to demonstrate empathy and sensitivity in their interactions with complainants. He said the police system must evolve in line with the Punjab Government’s 33% reservation for women in government services, including the police department.

The DGP also stressed that women police officers should not be restricted to desk duties and should be given operational responsibilities in investigation, intelligence and law-and-order assignments.

At the event, Yadav also launched the Online Digital Portal for Ministry of Defence (MoD) Verification on the Punjab Police Saanjh Platform. The digital initiative is aimed at reducing verification time for newly recruited defence personnel from months to just a few days.

Special DGP Community Affairs Division Gurpreet Kaur Deo said the gender sensitisation programme follows a Training of Trainers model. Under the initiative, 60 police officers from different districts were trained as Master Trainers to further deliver standardised modules at police-station level.

Former Maharashtra DGP Meeran Chadha Borwankar and former Punjab DGP RC Singh attended the inaugural programme as Guests of Honour. RC Singh conducted a session on “Gender-Responsive Policing: From Perspective to Practice,” while Borwankar addressed “Women in Policing – Leadership and Inclusion.”

Ministry of Defence Director Human Resources Aaron Pamei appreciated the Punjab Police initiative and thanked the DGP and the IT team for developing the online verification module on the Saanjh platform.

A documentary on domestic violence, produced by the Department of Mass Communication, GGDSD College, Chandigarh, was also screened during the inaugural function.