For jobless youth, focus on skill development

Open House: Is crime increasing due to covid-induced lockdown

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One of the major reasons for increasing incidents of crime is the growing unemployment, especially among youngsters. Due to lack of employment opportunities, youngsters are robbing people to earn their bread. The government has to create employment opportunities. More and more jobs should be generated for those who have lost jobs due to the Covid crisis. As the authorities and the police are busy managing Covid, the scope of crime has increased. The focus should now be back on catching thieves and snatchers. For this, the police should have advanced weapons and vehicles. CCTV cameras should be installed on streetlights. Regular nakas should be set up on internal and external roads at all times. Incentives should be given to those who share information about criminals. The police should be vigilant at all times. Steps should be taken to generate employment and shift the focus back to robberies and purse and jewellery snatchings in the City Beautiful.

Saikrit Gulati, Chandigarh

Nexus needs to be broken

Chain snatching incidents in the city were rampant before the lockdown also. After the Covid-induced lockdown, business and trade has come to a grinding halt and rendered youths jobless. Several steps should be taken to check the crime rate. There is a need for smashing the nexus between the police, criminals and politicians. The police should coordinate with the adjoining states and CCTVs should be installed at prominent places. The police should take people in confidence by holding meetings with NGOs. Criminal justice delivery system needs to be very quick.

SK Khosla, Chandigarh

Avoid wearing jewellery

The city is virtually in the grip of snatchers. Pedestrians, especially women, are highly unsafe on roads. To keep snatchers at bay, women should not wear heavy gold items and carry heavy cash or mobile phones in their bags. Women should stay cautious. In any such case, they should raise an alarm immediately and try to note down the number of the vehicle. The police should patrol the city in civil clothes at vulnerable areas.

Dr Shruti K Chawla

Lack of govt support a factor

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the Indian economy. Due to the alarming increase in unemployment, people are resorting to criminal activities to make both ends meet. In some cases, educated people with no criminal history have been found committing such crimes. Unemployment is paving way for economic crisis. Lack of security, negligence, lack of awareness on preventing crime and no help by government to the unemployed youth are among the factors leading to increasing crime.

Charu Malhotra, Mohali

Cops must be equipped to deal with snatchers

Chain snatching and other crimes are not something new to the city. However, unemployment due to Covid-19 is the latest stimulant for chain snatching. The youth is idle and desperate. We have to look for jobs for them. A hungry man can do anything. Then, the UT Police have to take stock of the problem and gear itself to deal with the young chain snatchers. Accordingly, the police must be equipped to beat the snatchers in their own game.

Col RD Singh (retd), Ambala Cantt

Help those hit due to lockdown

Daily wagers, labourers and street vendors are among the worst hit due to the lockdown. Because of the huge financial losses, they are indulging in criminal activities. The authorities concerned should take stringent steps to mitigate the effects of the lockdown.

Nakhpreet Kaur, Sanghol

NGOs should come forward

There is no gainsaying the fact that the recurring incidents of snatchings in the tricity have touched a new high, sending shivers down the spine. Women have become an easy prey amid the scare of Covid-19, which has reduced the human activity to minimal. Many of us can vouch for the fact that the younger generation with no jobs at hand for now could be cited as a plausible reason for the crime in the city. To help those rendered jobless becomes our responsibility as society. Their parents and NGOs can play a major role in preventing them from going astray The jobless youth may be given lessons in skill development to eke out a living.

Ramesh K Dhiman, Chandigarh

Situation will worsen

Pandemic-induced unemployment is definitely one of the factors behind youngsters taking to snatching. However, this is just the beginning. I envisage the worst scenario in the months to come. The fear of death from starvation will outgrow that of death by the infection. Youngsters and the desperate folks precariously pushed to the threshold would openly rob. The authorities should pay heed to the warning signs.

Dr SS Bhatti, Chandigarh

Trained offenders committing crime

Following the pandemic, a large number of migrants have left for their hometowns and the remaining have sufficient work after the lockdown relaxations. In the case of the tricity, the condition of unemployment is not so grim. It seems the handiwork of the same old trained offenders who have come out in a severe attacking mode after a brief halt due to the lockdown because it has become easier for them to hide their identities under the cover of mask. Therefore, people should simply avoid wearing jewellery. The police have to act in a more strategic way to nab the culprits.

Surinder Paul Wadhwa, Mohali

Inculcate moral values in youngsters

There is no denying the fact that pandemic has brought a tremendous change in our lifestyle. It has given birth to crimes such as chain snatching. Unemployed youngsters are resorting to criminal activities to fulfil their needs. It is our joint responsibility to inculcate moral values in the young minds.

Anita K Tandon, Kharar

Stringent punishment for offenders

Undoubtedly, Covid-19 has thrown the life of everyone out of gear, pushed people into penury and has brought endless miseries. This is one of the reasons for growing incidents of snatching. Intense patrolling and stringent punishment can deter the miscreants. CCTVs and well-lit roads will come handy to catch the culprit. Criminals needs to fear the law.

Veena Mahajan

Help those in need

Even though the restrictions are being lifted, several helpers at houses have not been reemployed due to the fear of pandemic. Their income has reduced drastically. People should pay their house helps even if they aren’t coming to work. This is a social responsibility.

Gurdev Singh, Mohali

Adopt Puducherry model against crime

Fear of law is essential to tame criminals. Criminals and Covid know no boundaries but the Administration and politicians do. For effective law and order, UT’s ambit should be expanded to include Mohali and Panchkula urban estates with a legislative assembly under a Lieutenant Governor on the Puduchery model.

Lalit Bharadwaj, Panchkula

Enhance patrolling in wee hours

The joblessness created due to the Covid-19 pandemic has added fuel to the already prevailing cases of snatching and other criminal activities in the tricity. Unemployed youths are adopting easy ways of earning by indulging in the snatching of gold and cash from residents with women as soft targets. Police patrolling has to be highly aggressive in the wee as well as late night hours, particularly on the inner roads of all sectors, and any doubtful person should be caught and questioned by the police. If required, he/she should be booked as per the law. The courts should penalise such defaulters quickly in a fast track mode with stringent penalties to create fear among the miscreants. The police and Administration should publicise about such persons and penalties imposed on them. Functioning of CCTV cameras should also be checked periodically.

SANJAY CHOPRA

Laws are toothless

The existing laws are toothless and do not provide harsh punishment without bail/remission on any grounds to criminals. This leads miscreants to resort to snatchings or thefts. Such cases should be decided within 3 months without resorting to the business of stay orders, bails and unlimited adjournments. The judicial and police reforms must be a priority of the authorities concerned.

KC Rana, Chandigarh

Residents should take precautions

In a way, those wearing gold jewellery on roads are also responsible for snatching incidents. The tricity police must intensify the patrolling across the region. Precautions taken by tricity residents and intensified patrolling are only ways to curb the menace.

Bhateja, Nayagaon

Police, locals should work together

Reduction in wages of workers and addiction to drugs and alcohol are the factors responsible for increasing incidents of crime in the city. This can be eradicated if the police and residents of the tricity work in tandem with each other.

Bharat Bhushan Sharma

QUESTION

Of the 1,809 neighbourhood parks in Chandigarh, 760 are being maintained by 60 RWAs. While the RWAs have been demanding a raise in the maintenance cost, the MC has told these to get PAN or pay 20 per cent tax on the maintenance cost in future. The RWAs have threatened to surrender the parks if the new measures are implemented. In such a scenario, what steps can be taken to ensure proper maintenance of the parks in the city?

Suggestions in not more than 70 words can be sent to openhouse@tribunemail.com