Hubballi: As part of a move to directly reach out to people, Hubballi-Dharwad police commissioner M N Nagaraj will hold public grievances meet in the form of phone-in programme twice a month. These events will provide a platform for citizens to highlight problems related to traffic, law and order , unlawful activities and other issues related to the police department.Nagaraj told TOI that the programme will be conducted from 11am to 12pm every second and fourth Friday of the month.Speaking to TOI Police Commissioner Nagaraj has confirmed it and he said he would listen to the public problem every second and fourth Friday of every month. It would be a one hour programme between 11 am to 12 pm. He said he andDeputy commissioners of police, ACPs and police control room staff will be present during the programme. To make the phone-in programme more transparent, the media will be invited to the event, the commissioner said. “The staff has already chalked out the plan for the programme. My office number and first date of the programme will be announced in a day or two through a media release,” he said.Nagaraj said that untoward incidents can be prevented and crime rate could be decreased when police work with the public. “Many a times, people want to highlight the problems they were facing due police apathy. They might want to approach us, but unable to do so due to some reasons. The programme will provide them with an opportunity to raise problems related to traffic, law and order, new beat system with police or provide alert on illegal activities,” he said.Nagaraj said the phone-in programmes will be held regularly and the public would be informed in advance if they are postponed due to some unavoidable reasons.The police commissioner said that the idea struck him when he took part in phone-in programmes organised by media houses. “I used to receive a number of calls from the public related to various issues. If one media house can bring so many complaints, if police publicise such programmes with the help of media and social media, more number of people can reach out to us,” he said.With the phone-in programme, Nagaraj, who claims that the crime rate has decreased by at least by 35% compared to previous years, aims at taking the first step towards reaching out to public and make police more people-friendly.

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