Students from two private universities will be hired to conduct a survey on public perception about cops in the industrial belt, in the first such exercise by the state police since Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar.

The initiative of Rajiv Ranjan Singh, deputy inspector-general of police (DIG), Kolhan range (covering East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts), will see nearly 70 post-graduate students from two private universities of Jamshedpur — Arka Jain University and Netaji Subhas University — conducting the survey in selected police station areas between October 3 and 5.

“In the first phase, we have selected the police stations which serve a combination of industrial areas and residential hubs. These include four police stations in Jamshedpur — Mango, Kadma, Sidhgora and Parsudih, and two in Seraikela-Kharsawan — Adityapur and Gamharia. The survey is aimed at understanding public perception about police, especially the attitude and behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic, position on ground relating to crime detection and prevention, performance and service delivery, and to assess citizen perception and experience about women and children’s safety. Depending on the feedback of this exercise, we might increase the number of police stations in the second phase,” said Singh on Thursday, after holding a meeting with the functionaries of the private universities in Jamshedpur.

Mango, Kadma and Sidhgora police stations cover mostly residential areas and Parsudih is a suburban and rural police station, while Adityapur and Gamharia come under the Adityapur Industrial Area, one of the country’s biggest ancillary hubs.

“We will be submitting the findings of the survey to the DGP (M.V. Rao) later in the month. The outcome of the survey is expected to bring out useful suggestions for stakeholders in formulating and implementing appropriate policy responses and changes in the functioning of the police and transformation in community policing and improvement in the access to justice and required reforms in different sectors,” the office said.

Paras Nath Mishra, senior faculty of Arka Jain University, which has its campus in Gamharia, said that 50 students from various streams have been selected for the purpose.

“The students are excited as it would be a unique learning experience for them. After the survey, they would get a certificate from the police department which will augur well for them in their professional pursuit. Each of the students will have to visit at least 20 households for the survey and there is a target of reaching out to a minimum of 500 households under each police station,” said Mishra.