A few years back, various media platforms hurriedly portrayed him as the villain in the Jadavpur University episode. However, incessant media trials and speculative criticism could not tarnish his image of punctuality, dutifulness and exemplary dedication all along his service till date. This perfect policeman, who considers ‘duty’ to be his top priority and has always been a true role-model with his abilities, fitness and commitment to work is Mr Rajkumar Singh, Officer in-Charge of the Howrah Bridge Traffic Guard.
Ever since he joined the force in the early ’90s, he has shown an objective and an ever-positive attitude towards his work. Currently, he is in his 50s and yet every Polo player inthe Kolkata Police circle knows him for his towering success in the game. A national boxer himself, Rajkumar Singh’s daughters also represented India in the international stage. The former NSG trained person is not only an asset to the force but also atop-class professional as far as man management is concerned.
First in command, followed by eventful stints in NSG, Mountain Force and later being assigned in challenging roles in Hare Street Police Station and Bhowanipore Police Station, the tall, evergreen officer has been very proactive in civic duties as well. After his short stint in Combat Forces in PTS, he was assigned the duty of Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Howrah Bridge Traffic Guard on July 25, 2018. Interestingly enough, this assignment was something very adventurous considering his earlier assignments. But the most amazing part is, under his leadership, there has been a marked improvement in the area. Be it lesser traffic congestion or smooth pedestrian movement, Rajkumar Singh has been instrumental in effectively removing encroachers from the chaos of roads and footpaths of Burrabazar.
“I have never been in charge of a traffic beat previously. But in a few days, I understood that it is urgently required to free the zone from all the prevailing chaos. No doubt, Brabourne Road witnesses huge Howrah bound traffic along with loading and unloading of various vehicles, my primary task was to have a thorough look at the local route map. With inputs from my colleagues, we began our mission with our core team and now you can find that the overall situation has improved a lot. We are still carrying out our improvisation and the good thing is, the locals have also responded well in the greater interest of the area,” acknowledged Singh.
Previously, the long stretch of Burrabazar was overshadowed by hawkers who had encroached the footpath and subsequently, traffic congestion paralysed the whole area. The dedicated boxing team of Rajkumar Singh took care of MG Road. Both Tripal Patty and Kareya Patty were taken care of with urgent attention and there was an immediate restriction on the flow of slow-moving vehicles. The decision to construct railings was indeed a masterstroke and it gave a huge sigh of relief to the pedestrians as well. Single line parking in various areas like KK Tagore Road did help in a big way. The movement towards Posta area became much easier and with lesser vehicular obstruction, lesser traffic time has become a norm these days.
And the real credit goes to Rajkumar Singh and his team for the way they handled the hawker scenario. No doubt, the whole issue is indeed a sensitive one and thus with a discussion with many hawkers who encroached parts of the road, eventually shifted, acknowledging the greater public interest. Side by side, with effective police involvement, size of the shops and kiosks have been reduced and the police have also banned the practice of displaying goods on the footpaths. Signalling has also been an important aspect to reduce traffic stress in the radius of two kilometres whether itis Brabourne Road or CR Avenue orthe stretch towards Posta. The traffic scenario is much better now.
By Ranabir Bhattacharyya
