’Help! We need interpreters’

Police officers want interpreters at police stations; saying that they often struggle to file complaints from non-Kannada speaking people

'Help! We need interpreters'

Police officers want interpreters at police stations; saying that they often struggle to file complaints from non-Kannada speaking people

They say language can be a barrier. And its true in the case of the city's police department, since over 30 per cent complainants in the city struggle to file complaints in police stations because they don't know Kannada.

Interesting, even the police personnel face the same problems, when they out of Karnataka. A junior officer said that they have been requesting a long time to appoint interpreters, but their seniors have instead advised them to learn other languages, and translate the complaint in Kannada.

The great divide: Due to diversity in the language, police officials
undergo a daily struggle to file a case. Hence, several outer state culprits
have taken advantage of this situation, and have managed to get away
lightly. Representation pic

More than 40 per cent of the city's population come from out of state, and visit the police stations for varying reasons. Because of the diversity in the language, police officials undergo a daily struggle to file a case.

Due of this problem, often, there are more than one versions of a complaint. Another issue is that most junior officers don't understand Hindi or English, so naturally they have a problem communicating with the complainant. An officer said that some outer state culprits have taken advantage of this situation, and have managed to get away lightly.

ACP Sunil Kumar, (Law and Order) said, "No other government offices have interpreters. Our officers should strive to learn other languages, besides, we are not in a position to appoint interpreters." Sometime complainants and cops have a conflict because of this, and they return without registering a complaint.

Recently, in Gandhinagar, a mobile shop owner extracted more money than the retail price from Naresh P, an Uttar Pradesh youth who is studying MCA who is studying MCA. The youth decided to register a complaint, but the on duty couldn't understand he was saying. The issue was sorted only later when a senior officer intervened.

An officer said, "Police stations should have interpreters, because it is impossible for senior officers to sit at a police station all the time. A city like Bangalore has more people talking in languages other than Kannada."

However, to this, Kumar said, "It is their problem. We can't do anything. They should request the DG&IGP if need be." The Karnataka police had problems with their counterparts from Maharashtra, because they were sending documents in Marathi. The issue was later resolved.