THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The turn of events that led to the visit of 13 Bhutanese police officials to the state capital has the whiff of a mountain folk tale.
Brigadier Kipchu Namgyel, the “gagpoen” or police chief of Royal Bhutan Police, was unhappy with his country’s child protection division, he wanted a thorough revamp.
The Brigadier gathered the best of his men and asked them to identify the “magic land” where they have the best child reformation programme in the world. After months of intense research, the discovery was made. “Kerala,” the Brigadier was informed. Namgyel swiftly dispatched a set of police officers to the faraway state to study its child welfare system. The first team arrived two weeks back, collected information and returned.
Now, second team of 13 officers are in city, visiting the various homes for children run by the Social Justice Department. The officers, nine men and four females, were in traditional Bhutanese outfits; the men in ‘gho’ - an outfit that resembles nightgowns worn by film villains in the 80s but pulled up at the waist to keep at knee level - and the women in ‘kira’ - an ankle-length wrapper coupled with a jacket to cover the torso.
In Bhutan, the child reformation programme is under the Police Department. “We would like to involve more NGOs in the running of the child rehab programme,” said Ms Kenzoo, a member of the delegation. “Too much of police involvement could instill some fear in these children, defeating the reformation process,” she said. Kenzoo looked astonished when senior probation officer Subair told the team that the state was running 36 children’s homes. “We have just one,” she said.
“We also find it amazing that you have separate homes for child offenders and orphans,” said Mr Norbu, another officer. Bhutan’s only home is for child offenders. These are inputs that the team will carry to Brigadier Namgyel. The Bhutan’s children’s home was opened in 1999; the Poojappura Home began more than a century ago in 1893. However, there were aspects of child care that the state can learn from Bhutan.
These Bhutanese police officials are trained counsellors, too. “These children have serious emotional issues and we constantly counsel them,” Mr Norbu said. More than 200 children have been reformed, placed in jobs, and released from the home in the last 16 years, Ms Kenzoo said. Most of the children who land in the home, Ms Kenzoo said, were either orphans or came from single parent homes.
