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Find out how citizen participation and a time commitment of 2-6 hours a week can make your neighbourhood a much safer place to live in.

You are comfortably sleeping before being woken up to screams in your building. There is a fire in the apartment and it’s spreading rapidly. There are children crying, parents are panicking, there is chaos everywhere and the fire engine hasn’t arrived yet. What do you do in such a situation?

Wouldn’t it be helpful if residents were trained to handle such basic emergency situations and know what to do themselves?

A potential fire is only one issue that communities in urban areas may face on a daily basis. There are others – high crime rates in unsafe neighbourhoods, communal tension, building collapses… the list can go on. In these circumstances, a community must look at civil defence options that allow citizens to take control of a situation and be constructive till formal help arrives.

The Area Suraksha Mitra (ASM) program aims at enabling people to actively respond to emergencies, rather than being mere spectators and not knowing how to cope in situations such as strikes, fires, rioting, terrorist attacks, etc. These are ordinary people, citizens trained in emergency aspects of safety such as fire-fighting, first aid, neighbourhood security, CPR, etc.

For instance, if you were a resident of Koramangala, you would be trained to be responsible for keeping an eye on every day and suspicious activities in your community. This usually involves but is not exclusive to patrolling the area, taking part in all neighbourhood community activities, being an active part of Resident Welfare Associations. Participating in an activity such as this would not only offer you a larger network of people to interact with but would also help you stay alert to changes in behaviour of people or groups in your area.

Why the ASM is all the more significant is because we cannot always expect the police to stand in as the only line of defence. A police station usually caters to 3-4 wards usually making it difficult for them to interact directly with the community every day. The ASM personnel help form a bridge between the community and the police, interacting with both the citizens and the police, in the process facilitating better communication between the two, and being a catalyst to solving neighbourhood crimes and safety issues. They can give the police information on community issues that might otherwise be overlooked.  

Launched in February 2009 by the Directorate of Home Guards & Civil Defence in association with Janaagraha and partners, its goal is to build a prepared citizenry in various areas of the city to strengthen the hands of police and rescue workers in times of emergency.

The central idea is to build a trained force through a representation from every area in the city – 5000 –  in the city of Bengaluru. This will be organized through the Civil Defence structure of warden service. An ‘area’ comprises 3-4 streets, and approximately 1200 residents. The initiative offers a systemic way for people to play a role in safety of their neighbourhoods.

This will be accomplished by building a trained force through a representation from every polling booth in the city.

The objectives of the Area Suraksha Mitra campaign are:

-To prevent crime by improving security, increasing vigilance, creating and maintaining a caring community and reducing opportunities for crime by increasing crime prevention awareness.

- To assist the police in detecting crime by promoting effective communication and prompt reporting of suspicious and criminal activity.

- To reduce undue fear of crime by providing accurate information about risks and by promoting a sense of security and community spirit, particularly among the more vulnerable members of the community.

- To improve police/community liaison by providing effective communication channels, and by members informing the police of incidents when they occur.

To volunteer as an Area Suraksha Mitra:

• You must be at least 18 years old

• Must be a registered voter

• Have no criminal record

• Possess a high sense of integrity

• Be charged with the spirit of volunteerism.

 By volunteering, candidates will be eligible for honorary appointment for Civil Defence services, which is a Union Government organisation.

Candidates will also be eligible for commendation/ medals conferred by the DGP, the Chief Minister and the President in recognition of meritorious work. Certificates will be handed out to wardens that will give them priority for appointment in government and civil services. Volunteers will be provided with an allowance of Rs 70/ day of activity.

Living in a democratic structure does not mean we only vote for our elected representatives and the job ends there. We must participate in the democratic process, exercise our rights and be involved citizens. We are as responsible for ourselves and the quality of our lives, as are those we choose to govern us.

- J.Mumtaz 

To volunteer or become an Area Suraksha Mitra, please visit http://civildefence.areasm/enrol.phpor contact info@janaagraha.org