ASSAM UNIVERSITY, SILCHAR

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK

ASSIGNMENT TOPIC :
URBAN CULTURE AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES IN SILCHAR TOWN

NAME OF THE SUPERVISOR : DR. SUBHABRATA DUTTA.

Submitted to :
Dr. SUBHABRATA DUTTA.
Associate Professor & Head
Department of Social Work
Assam University : Silchar

Submitted by :
KHAN HASINA AHMED.
DEBOSMITA DAS.
SEMESTER - MSW 4th Sem.
 CONTENTS

Page No.

Introduction 03

Conceptual Understanding/Discussion 03-06

Present Conditions 07-09

Suggestions for Improvement 10

Social Work Intervention 11-24

Conclusion 25

References 26
 INTRODUCTION

The city or an urban place is a centre of attraction. From this it attracts a large number of people
especially from the rural areas. Various factors are there to migrate the rural people to the urban place.
An agrarian country like India is also undergoing the process of urbanization and as a result the number
and the size of the cities are increasing in India. And ultimately the more in number of population the
more in number of social problems like crime and etc. The word “Crime” means a violation of conduct
norms or of establishing norms. The modern concept of crime is essentially a legal concept and
according to the modern approach, crime is a creation of law.

According to Hall Jerome - (1947:8-18) has defined crime as “legally forbidden and intentional action,
which has a harmful impact on social interests, which has a criminal intent, and which has legally
prescribed punishment for it”.

Before we proceed to the meaning and definitions of crime, let us try to deal with the various concepts
of crime. They are :-

The Demonological Concept : In the primitive society there were those days where the
people believed that society is protected by divine power and the God was the criminal
code. For such an act society was awarding punishment in the form of death to the
offender.

The Legal Concept : Crime is that behavior which is prohibited by the laws or the
criminal code.

The Sociological Concept : All actions and behavior which are socially harmful are
considered as Crime.

The Socio-legal Concept : It is an improvement over the legal and sociological concepts
where it says that crime is an act which is believed to be socially harmful.

The Psycho-socio-legal Concept : This concept is an improvement over the

shortcomings of all the other concepts of crime. It takes into consideration of the
intention of an individual in committing crime, social conditions leading to criminality
and the legal aspects of crime.

This paper presents an interactive visualization which is done to present the viewer with an accurate
perception of the view of criminal activity in a cityscape. This also employs many different visualization
elements, which taken together to presents this paper in a useful manner that can be used to visualize
many associated factors of crime. So here in the coming discussions, we will talk about the “Urban
Criminal Activities “with special reference to the Silchar town, (Assam).
 CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING / DISCUSSION

There are some of the concepts under mentioned:-

Urban: (Latin ‘urbs’ city) - the term implies, the city or town community where man became a
citizen when he became a member of a city or a state.

Culture: (Latin: related to ‘cultivate’) - by the term we can understand, a manufactured

environment which surrounds the city man and the way of life of him.

Urban Culture : By the word ‘Urban Culture’, we can understand - the knowledge, belief,
morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of the
urban society.

Crime: (Latin ‘crimen’) - the term implies, the illegal and intentional act in violation of law.

Criminal: (Latin: related to ‘crime’) - by the term we can understand, persons conducting illegal
acts.

Criminal Activities: By the word ‘Criminal Activities’, we can understand - the activities which
violates the norms and regulations of a society and breaks the law of the State.

Social Problem: By the word ‘Social Problem’ we can understand - any problem existing in the
society which affect the public at large and which cannot be regarded as individual problem.
There are some of the following ‘Social Problems’ which contributes to the
“Urban Criminal Activities”. They are:-

Violence against Women: Women are the victims of humiliation, torture and
exploitation. They are beaten, kidnapped, raped, burnt and murdered. In spite of the
legislatives measures adopted in favor of women in our society, women still continue to
be victims of violence.

Crime and Criminals: As the crime is increasing day by day might cause awareness
among the public but our police and politicians remain ungathered about the present
law and order situation but the Sociologist giving their concern in rising up of the issues.

Juvenile Delinquency: They are the under-age criminals. From the total delinquencies
committed by the juveniles, the police can catch hardly 2% of the delinquencies. It has
seen that delinquency rates are much higher among boys than girls.

Alcoholism: It is the habitual use of addict’s choice of chemical to produce a temporarily
pleasant mental state. Earlier it was known for its moral problem and also a sign of
social irresponsibility but now it was viewed as an illegal act.

Drug Abuse and Drug Addiction: This is perceived as a deviating behavior which grows
ultimately to the cause of social problem. Now a day’s India has become both an
important passage as well as the existing centre for drugs.

Poverty: It is a situation where an individual is not able to meet his/her minimum

standard of livelihood as a consequence of lack of resources. Hence poverty is observed
in terms of poverty line.

Unemployment: It is a situation where an individual is capable of working and also

willing to work but remains without work. In India after Independence, there has been
an alarming problem of unemployment.

Population Explosion: Because of the growth in population India is falling behind in the
contest of speed in the economic and human resources development. The scale at
which India’s population is increasing is simply mind-frustrating.

Communalism and Regionalism :

 Communalism states that society is divided into religious communities
whose interest differs & also opposed to each other.
 Regionalization is the division of geographical territory with the definite:
boundaries.
The rising trend of the above accompanying violence which created a
feeling of insecurity among the people.

Backward Castes, Tribes and Classes: This section of people comes under the
underprivileged category in India as because they were occupied by the inferior status.
Government of India prescribes protection and safeguards for them.

Youth Unrest and Agitations: The youth used to become angry when they notice any
widening of the wrongly deeds in the society. When the youth got frustrated and
disappointed, they start taking some agitation to carry the social protest.

Child Abuse and Child Labor : Large majority of the Indian children are compelled by
economic considerations to join the labor force where they continue to be employed,
harassed and abused, this cause them to be in distress and violent condition.

Illiteracy: In India it has been considered as an obstacle in development and the
problem of illiteracy among women in our country is worse. Every time the attempts
made by the Government for removing the illiteracy but it could not succeed.

Urbanization: There has been a shift in the population from rural to urban areas and
this urbanization has lead to many social problems. Urbanization reflects an
organization of society which is in terms of a complex division of labor.

AIDS: Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome is a disease which is caused by a virus

called Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV. It is currently spreading in the world at
the rate of one new infection every fifty seconds.

Terrorism: It is the problem which we have been facing very rampantly in our country
like India. We can say that terrorism is an organized system of frightening the public.
Generally it is practiced by the opponent of the State.

Corruption: It is a deviating act from the norms of the society for getting the private
profits through the utilization of the public power. Corruption is spread all over in the
society in various forms.

Bonded Labor: It can be said as the selfish bondage between the two people where a
man is keeping another man for his personal designs in the form of man’s cruelty to
man. It is found that the bonded labor is found as a global phenomenon.

Black Money: It is both a social problem as well as an economic problem. Consumer of

black money is not affected but it affects the common man in the society. It is not easy
to calculate the magnitude of black money in any society.

So social problems are common to all societies because every society has its own social problem. The
above social problems are the public issues which affect the society as a whole or we can say the larger
part of the society.

Social Problem has been defined by Reinhardt, 1952:14 - as, “a situation confronting a group or a section
of society which inflicts injurious consequences that can be handled only collectively”.

Thus no single individual or a few individuals are responsible for the occurrence of those socially
problematic situations, so the control of this situation is also beyond the ability of one person or a few
persons and as a result the responsibility of tackling is placed upon society at large.
As we know, major challenges to India’s growth strategy are our failure to create an inclusive
economy. While growth has reduced poverty situation to a greater extent but India is still has a block of
poor people and this leads to the hue and cry of the basic needs for the survival. As a result people used
to indulge in all the above mentioned social problems and involving at large creates an environment of
criminal activities.
 PRESENT CONDITION

In Reference To India :
In the recent years it is evident everywhere that the city is growing in population at the expense of the
village. It is also observed that urban culture is spreading to the rural areas.

As said by Davis that “The city effects are wider than the city itself".

The growing transport and communications, the increased urban newspaper circulation in rural areas,
advancement in science and technology, etc., have gone a long way in diffusing a wide variety of urban
attitudes, ideas and habits from the city to the village. Urbanism or the urban way of life, has affected
the size and character of the rural family. The mode of rural recreation has changed due to the urban
influence. It is true that the city continues to dominates the country. Even with respect to birth rate,
death rate, age at marriage, infant mortality, divorce, suicide etc.

Man is gradually making the urban environment more suited to his needs and to live in luxury, he can go
beyond the values of human being and as a result there comes the breeding place for the several social
problems where it includes different forms of urban crimes. Urban crime is universal, but research
suggests that patterns of urban crime are affected by the nature of cities and the social, economic and
geographical environments in which they exist.

For example:

Property crime tends to be higher in cities of the developed countries.

Violent crime is higher in cities of the developing world.

Regardless of social or economic development, the larger the population of a city, the greater
the level of crime and victimization.
There are many relationships between the patterns of urban life and the patterns of crime.
There are some of the following evidences to support the description of crime in our country. They are :-

The total crimes committed in India in every year is about 16.35 lakh which are cognizable
crimes under the Indian Penal Code, (IPC) - including theft, burglary, robbery, dacoity, murder,
riot, kidnapping, cheating, breach of trust etc.
And about 38.76 lakh are offences under the local and special laws like Dowry Prohibition Act,
Prohibition Act, Gambling Act, Excise Act, Arms Act, Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, Narcotic
Drugs and psychiatric substances Act, Railways Act, Explosive Substance Act etc. However the
crime rate in India is 614.79.
Source: (Crime in India, 1993:22 and 1994:25).

In every year the police investigated 30 percent cases of cognizable crimes from about 21 lakh
cases of crimes which is under the IPC.
And about 70 percent are cases of offences committed under the local and special laws.
Source: (Crime in India, 1994:35).

The total persons arrested for offences under the local and special laws is about one-fourth i.e.,
24.9% are arrested under five Acts. They are :
• Prohibition Act- 15.8%.
• Gambling Act - 4.3%.
• Excise Act - 2.5%.
• Indian Railways Act - 1.7%.
• Arms Act - 0.6%.

The remaining three-fourths i.e., 75.1% are arrested under Immoral Traffic Act, Narcotic and
Drugs Act, Explosives Act, Dowry Prohibition Act, Essential Commodities Act, TADA and so on.

Source: (Crime in India, 1993:107).

Crime rate is much higher for male than females. Out of every 100 offenders, 96 are males and
04 are females.
Source: (Ibid, 1994:138).

Crime rate is highest among those :

• In the low (income up to Rs. 1,000 pm).
• Lower-middle (income between Rs. 1,001 and Rs. 2.000 pm).
• Middle-middle (income between Rs. 2,001 and Rs. 3,000 pm) socio economic groups.
Source: (Ibid, 1994:140).

Crime rate is :
• Highest i.e., 51% in the age group of 18-30 years.
• Less than 1 percent i.e., 0.2% in the age group below 16 years.
• 1 percent i.e., 1.2% in the age group of 16-18 years.
• 41% in the age group of 30-50 years.
• 7% in the age group of 50+ years.
Source: (Ibid, 1994:140).

In presenting the above facts and features, the idea is to point out the weakening of motives for
accordance with the social norms and the disruption of social relationships and social bonds and the
unrest is increasing almost in all sections of our society.
In Reference To Silchar :
Over time and across each city, specific crime patterns influence the general social climate and social
reactions to crime, which have a longer term influence.
Urban environment of Silchar may also have an effect on the ways in which the community
reacts or responds to the city crimes and how it is perceived by the residents of the very town. This can
be seen both institutionally in the presence of the roles played by law enforcement institutions and the
mass media in the Silchar city. The nature of life in the Silchar town are also significantly influences the
crimes in various ways as because some types of crime are more or less prevalent in urban
environments and also some crimes take different forms in urban as well as in the rural environments.

The conditions of Silchar also use a powerful influence on the ways of reacting to the societies or
respond to the crimes with preventive, law enforcement, victim support and other measures as stated
by the Silchar Police Station.
From the above we can understand that urbanization in the country has affected the structure
and functions of the various social institutions like:

The family,

Economy,

Politics,

Religion,

Education,

Industrialization and

Modernization which led to the less functions of the family.
Source:(Sadar Police Station-Silchar, 2011)

Economically urbanization in Silchar town makes poverty more serious by the:

Unemployment,

Underemployment,

A decrease in real wages due to continuation of the increase in prices and,

Uncontrolled migration.
Source:(Kalibari Char, Slum-Silchar, 2011)

So for the above, the labor market remains unable to fully absorb fresh graduates and migrants
from the city of Silchar and because of the lack of job opportunities, many have forced
themselves to work in the abroad and the others who were not in the condition to migrate
themselves becomes the bulk of the crime involving activities or the victims of such situations
prevailing in the society.
 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Crime Prevention Through Social, Economic and Political Inclusion:-

Possible responses to urban crime include as wide as the range of possibilities of the forms of urban
crime itself. But there is probably one common principle that effective counteraction to urban crime
depends not only to put an end to the crime by force but also to the majority of society who have to
choose to support the laws voluntarily and which is fundamental to effective prevention of crime.
The relationship between marginalization and many forms of urban crime makes the problem of
organized crime and commits the criminal activities. So the state parties have to work together with the
State to take actions to make less severe of those circumstances. Social prevention should also include a
thorough and critical assessment of the broader concept of social environment where it identifies the
social problems that are linked to crime and also by determining that how it can be addressed and
alleviated in regards to the issues of vulnerability to victimization.

Social measures take care to address the social conditions in general rather than targeting the crime
directly. For example, education creates employment and other opportunities for youth that provide
alternatives to crime and give them a boundary in a society and the evidence is that the better the
young people receive education, the less likely they are to cause offence.
In recent years, the emphasis of the Police Force has shifted to crime prevention and the
provision of non-crime related services. The police are not a profit-oriented organization but a
government agency responsible for providing both crimes related and non-crime related services.

There should be the following functions of the Police Force. They are:

Preventing crime.

Maintenance of a feeling of security in the community.

Arresting those who were responsible for crimes.

Performing non-crime related functions as traffic law enforcement and emergency response to
non-crime citizen problems.

In performing the above functions, police services should be provided rapidly in a fair, courteous
and honest manner while avoiding excessive harassment and false accusation of innocent
persons.
From the above list of the police's functions, the output of the police can be defined in terms of,
reduction in crime rates, number of persons arrested, clearance rates for various offences, and citizen
feedback measures on their feeling of security and their satisfaction with the police's response to both
the crime and non-crime activities.
In conclusion, I could say that there should be change in the mind set of the people and also
there should be some sort of mental revolution which is a change in the attitudes of all police officers
towards the concept of productivity towards their duties and proficiency but productivity is not an end
in itself, it is a means to other ends which includes the other things in the improvement of the quality of
life.
It is hoped that the Police Force and other Crime Involving Institutions plays a vital role in controlling the
urban crimes in India and will definitely nurture the development of the productivity which is nationally
common among the citizens of India so that its productivity will not be attained as an end in itself or at
any cost.
 SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION

We have already noted that “Crime” is one of the social problems in any society and as a social problem,
it is a threatening condition to the wellbeing of the society. Wellbeing of society mainly depends upon
the eradication of criminal activities from the society. Therefore, from the point of view of well-being of
society prevention of crime is essential.

In the present paper Social Work Trainee, SWT intervene with the Judicial Institutions for taking out the
information and also records about the present status of the “Criminal Activities” in Silchar town. SWT
visited some of the Institutions like:

Police Station.

District Level Committee for Crimes Involving Women.

Juvenile Justice Board and

Silchar New Life Condition.

So there are the following observations and data based information about the Urban Criminal Activities
in Silchar town.

 SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: Sadar Police Station.

Social Work Trainee, (SWT) visited the Sadar Police station in Silchar town, (Cachar) and
interacted with the Officer in Charge and Sub-Inspector Police regarding the emerging
“Criminal Activities” in Silchar town. So the SWT were provided with the two cases filed
in their police station and also along with the criminal records of the year 2010 and up
to the month of March, 2011.

Table 01: Cases of Crime against Women in Sadar Police Station.

TWO FILED CASES OF THE CRIME AGAINST WOMEN, 2011

SL.NO CASES FIR NO. DATE OF CRIMINAL AGE OF AGE OF CASE SUMMARY PRESENT
CASE FILED ACTIVITY STATE
COMPLAIN ACCUSED ACCUSED

01 Case 1 331/11 02-03-2011 Dowry 20 yrs. 33 yrs. Complain came from the poor In Jail.
income and somehow her
parents managed to bear the
expenses of the Marriage
Ceremony but the groom’s
family was not satisfied with
the items provided to them
and force her to bring the
 amount of Rs. 10,000 in cash
along with the furniture and
then she gave Rs. 2,000 in cash
but this amount did not
satisfied the greediness of the
groom’s family she was
tortured physically and
mentally by her husband. After
some days, her husband
brought a women who is her
husband’s previous wife but
she and her parents were not
known about it before her
marriage. Then she bears a girl
child but still the domestic
violence continues. Even her
husband’s previous wife also
started torturing her. Then she
escaped to her parent’s house
and filed the case against her
husband.

02 Case 2 395/11 16-03-2011 Kidnapping 18 yrs. 47 yrs. Complain came from a middle In Jail.
class family and he was the
father of his beautiful
daughter, because of her
beauties she used to get many
proposals from many boys to
marry her but she was not
interested in those. She wants
to study more. Even her
parents did not want her to get
marry in the early stage. That’s
why she was very confident in
her decision. One day when
she went to school. She was
kidnapped by some boys when
the school get closed. At that
particular time some people
came to recognize about her
and informed her father about
the incident than he came to
the police station and filed the
case.
 Table 02: Shows the Records of Criminal Activities in Silchar Town, 2010-2011.

CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES IN SADAR POLICE STATION, SILCHAR

CACHAR, (2010-2011)
SL.NO CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES 2010 2011

01 Dacoity 08 Nil

02 Robbery 11 Nil

03 Rape 36 02

04 Kidnapping 97 06

05 Extortion 12 Nil

06 Murder 19 01

07 Burglary 125 08

08 Theft 356 25

09 Rioting 32 01

10 Extremist Nil Nil

11 Crime against Women, 498(A)- 245 13

IPC

12 Other 28 02

13 NDPS Act 03 Nil

14 Arms Act 02 Nil

15 Other IPC 1434 93

Total 2408 151

  SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: District Level Committee for Crimes
Involving Women.
After getting the required information from the Police Station, SWT step forward to the
District Level Committee for Crimes Involving Women, (DLCCIW) and interacted with the
Chairperson regarding the Crime against Women in Silchar town, (Cachar). So the SWT
were provided with the two cases filed in DLCCIW and also along with the records of the
year 2010 and up to the month of March, 2011.

Table 03: Cases of Domestic Violence against Women in DLCCIW.

TWO FILED CASES OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN THE YEAR, 2011
SL. CASES FILED DATE OF CRIMINAL AGE OF AGE OF CASE RELATION PRESENT
NO. NO. CASE FILED ACTIVITY SUMMARY WITH STATE
COMPLAIN ACCUSED ACCUSED ACCUSED

01 Case 1 161/11 16-03-2011 Domestic 21 yrs. 31 yrs and It was a Hindu Husband In charge of
Violence 27yrs marriage and the case filed.
respective where the Sister-in-
ly. duration of law.
their marriage
is one and half
year but still
complainant’s
husband used
to beat her
frequently and
also she used
to get
mentally
harassment
from her
sister-in-law in
the name of
disobedience.
One day her
husband tried
to kill her but
somehow she
manage to
save herself.
And then she
 came to know
that her
husband is
having a extra
marital affair.
Now she got
three months
pregnant. So
she went to
her father’s
house and
filed the case
against her
husband and
her sister-in-
law.

02 Case 2 152/11 07-02-2011 Domestic 22 yrs. 70 yrs and Complain Father-in- In a

Violence 28 yrs came from the law and compromise
respective slum of Silchar Sister-in- situation..
ly. which is so law.
called Kalibari
Char and she
get married in
the town area
of Silchar.
They have a
five year son.
Her husband
used to go out
of the Silchar
town i.e., in
Meghalaya
and comes
after a couple
of months.
Whenever her
father-in-law
got chance, he
used to molest
her and also
have a bad eye
on her body
movements.
She tried to
protest but
 she was
mentally and
physically
harassed by
her sister-in-
law. But her
father-in-law
keeps on
doing the
same and one
day when she
burst out in
front of her
sister-in-law
about her
father-in-law’s
act. She was
forced by the
two to leave
her house and
also they did
not allow her
to take her
son. Then she
came to her
father’s house
and filed the
case against
the two and as
a result, they
gave the son
back to her.

Table 04: Shows the Records of Domestic Violence against Women in Silchar Town, 2010-2011

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN DLCCIW, SILCHAR (CACHAR)

( 2010-2011)
SL.NO CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES 2010 2011

01 Domestic Violence 160 27

  SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: Juvenile Justice Board.
After getting the required information from the District Level Committee for Crimes
Involving Women, SWT step forward to the Juvenile Justice Board, (JJB) and interacted
with the Magistrate regarding the Criminal Activities in Silchar town, (Cachar). So the
SWT were provided with the two cases filed in JJB and also along with the records of the
year 2010 and up to the month of March, 2011.

Table 05: Cases of Children with Conflict with Law in Juvenile Justice Board.

TWO FILED CASES OF THE CHILDREN WITH CONFLICT WITH LAW, 2011
SL. CASES FIR NO. DATE OF CASE CRIMINAL AGE OF AGE OF CASE SUMMARY PRESENT STATE
NO. FILED ACTIVITY ACCUSED
COMPLAIN ACCUSED

01 Case 1 43 C/11 18-03-2011 Heinous 17 yrs. On the basis of specific He got released in
offence information to the effect bail.
- that Red sandal logs, each
one covered with clothes
weighing approximately
th
3/4 tons secreted
beneath loads of bags of
fertilizer will be carried in
a truck. On 27-02-2011,
the driver of the vehicle
was asked by the Custom
Preventive Force to
disclose the contents in
the truck to which
contains fertilizers and
logs and it was on the
way to Mizoram.
Therefore, the vehicle
along with the goods and
the driver and two other
occupants were escorted
to the Custom Preventive
Force, Silchar by the army
officials.

02 Case 2 736 G/11 11-03-2011 Burglary 28 yrs. 17 yrs. On 01-03-2011 at about He got released in
06 pm on the leadership bail.
of and other were
trespassed in the house
 premises of conflict with
the accused and sharp
weapons and arrange the
unlawful assembly with a
view to attain on the
family members of
complainant and better
assault. According to the
accused persons were
assaulted to the
complainant’s father and
his brothers by the lathi
and sharp weapons as a
result complainant’s
father has got grievous
head injury and his family
members also received
injuries. The accused
person also throwing
stone on the house of
complainant and his
family members. Hence,
the case was registered
and investigated. The
accused is arrested to the
Judicial custody.

Table 06: Shows the Records of Children with Conflict with Law in Silchar Town, 2010-2011.

CHILDREN WITH CONFLICT WITH LAW IN JUVENILE JUSTICE BOARD,

SILCHAR CACHAR, ( 2010-2011)
2010 2011

RECEIVED DISPOSAL PENDING RECEIVED DISPOSAL PENDING

45 17 - 5 - 129

TOTAL 62 TOTAL 134

  SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: Silchar New Life Foundation.
After getting the required information from the DLCCIW, SWT visited the Silchar New
Life Foundation, (SNLF) and interacted with the Secretary cum Project Director
regarding the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction in Silchar town, (Cachar). So the SWT were
provided with the two cases filed in SNLF and also along with the records of the year
2010 and up to the month of March, 2011.

Table 03: Cases of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction in Silchar New Life foundation.

TWO CASES OF THE ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ADDICTION, 2011

SL. CASES DATE CRIMINAL AGE ADDICTION STARTED CASE PRESENT
NO OF ACTIVITY IN THE SUMMARY STATE
CASE AGE
FILED
01 CASE 1 18-02- Theft and 27 Drugs. 20 yrs. At first he Last one month
2011 Burglary. yrs. started his In the
addiction Rehabilitation
from taking Centre.
Alcohol
with his
friends and
then
gradually
taking it for
occasionally
for two and
a half years
and then
one of his
friend
 introduce
him with
the Drugs
so called
Heroin
where he
got
addicted to
that
chemical
and started
developing
dependency
on that
particular
choice of
chemical.
Then his
parents
admit him
in the
nearby Drug
Deaddiction
Centre but
he got
relapsed
and it
continues
till the
present
Centre i.e.,
five times in
the short
term
treatment.
02 CASE 2 18-02- Burglary. 30 Alcohol. 29 yrs. At first he Last one month
2011 yrs. started his In the
addiction Rehabilitation
from an Centre.
open
challenge
which is
given by his
girl friend
by saying
that-“If you
 love me
than you
have to
drink the
full glass of
Alcohol in
one
minute”.
Then after
forcing him
for the sake
of his love
towards his
girl friend,
he drunk
the full
bottle. After
some days
some of his
friends
were
consuming
the Alcohol
and also
offered to
him but he
refused to
take it. One
day again
he was
offered by
the same
friends and
he had
taken a
little then
gradually
taking more
and they
consume it
till they felt
tired of
taking.
So from the
next day he
keeps on
 meeting his
friends and
taking the
Alcohol as if
that was his
daily
routine.
When his
condition
became
severe, his
parents
sent him to
the Centre
which is his
first time
Centre.

Table 04: Shows the Records of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction in Silchar Town, 2010-2011.

ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ADDICTION IN SILCHAR NEW LIFE FOUNDATION,

SILCHAR-CACHAR (2010-2011)
SL.NO. SOCIAL PROBLEMS 2010 2011

01 ALCOHOLISM 19 37

02 DRUG ADDICTION 11 20

TOTAL 30 57

 SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: Kalibari Char, Slum.

After getting the required information from the different Judicial Agencies, Social Work
Trainee, SWT went to the Kalibari Char which is a slum to get the actual understanding
of the slum dwellers regarding the Urban Criminal Activities in Silchar town and also the
perceptions regarding the Silchar Police Forces working in the Silchar town.
So, SWT visited the “Kalibari Char” which is a Slum in Silchar town for getting the feedback from the
slum people regarding the Urban Criminal Activities and about the services or the performances of the
Silchar Police Stations in dealing with those Social Problems. This one day survey was conducted simply
to get the public’s opinion of the Silchar Police Force, SPF.
SWT tried their best in getting the attitudes of the public towards the SPF. This survey was an
attempt to examine the attitudes of the public towards the police in Silchar. The major findings of this
survey can be summarized as follows:

Majority of the respondents felt very secure about their neighborhood like -
• Some said that they felt safe when they walked through their neighborhood at day time
and,
• Some said that they also feel the same while in the night time.

Majority of the respondents had favorable perceptions of the SPF by saying that -
• They trusted the police,
• Some indicated that they liked the police and,
• Some said that they were not scared of the police at all.

In terms of efficiency -
• Some respondents said that the police were extremely efficient and,
• Some described that the police forces are fairly efficient.

In terms of friendliness -
• Some respondents felt that the police were extremely friendly,
• Some said that the police were fairly friendly,
• Some respondents described the police as rude, interfering, frightening or bullying,
• Some said that the police were extremely secretive and,
• Some felt that the police were fairly secretive.

Regarding police performance -

• Majority of the respondents were satisfied or extremely satisfied with the way the
Silchar Police Force were performing their jobs in maintaining peace and order, in
traffic control, enforcing pedestrian crossing rules and in handling the crowd control in
the Silchar city whenever in need of.

So these are the above responses towards the Silchar Police Forces in controlling the crime rate in
Silchar town which is gathered by the Social Work Trainee from the Kalibari Char, Slum. From this
survey, we can understand that a place like slum is giving a positive response towards the police which is
hardly seen in a society and that we can say that yes, there is a hope in the reduction of the urban
criminal activities in Silchar town if the general people come together and joined their hands in the
mitigation of the crimes from our society and country at large.
SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION IN
KALIBARI CHAR
 CONCLUSION

So from this paper, where it lies the brief discussion about the crimes in the urban area, we came to
know that, “Crime” is a multidimensional, complex and a dynamic activity which not only affects an
individual but it also affects the mass as a whole.

Mainly the question of prevention of crime is discussed under two heads namely:

Prevention Program - It is used to avoid the occurrence of crime and to mitigate the causes that
giving rise to crime.

Treatment of correctional program -It is used to restore the person to a normal condition of
living after he has committed a crime.

If we take the example of our India we can see the multi storeyed building which is hiking in the sky of
the cities and down the line, we can also see the remote rural villages. India is a country of unique
efforts and that is where her beauty lies in the heart of the people.

What I’m trying to say here is that we possess the wealth of talent in our country that has been born
from a population of india. India is a wonderful dynamic and vibrant country that has managed to evolve
despite of all the linguistic, cultural and traditional restrictions. In fact, with the massive population who
calls themselves Indian. We have a rich cultural background, progressive thinkers and the intellectuals
to move it forward, the only thing we are missing is the faith that change is possible in every aspects of
our life.

We need to actively work on that how to bother the people into action by spreading the message and
encouraging everyone to participate against the crimes in India. India’s NGO workers and other welfare
agencies should not be the only one concerned about the betterment of the society in terms of rime
free society. Instead of that, we also need a collaborative effort that uses their talents and ideas of a
nation to make its everyone problem.

As said by a great scholar that, “Nothing is more frustrating than someone who writes an article
claiming to have all the answers but not intimately involved in any decision process”.

While I acknowledge that some issues are far more complex than I may understand. This paper, only
seeks to get the specific and the particular place oriented i.e., restricted in the Silchar town which could
not contribute to the formation of the true facts and ideas in the whole scenario of our Indian society.
So in conclusion, I could say that realistically, we must look at the peak situation of “Crime in India” and
work within it to create a positive difference in our society. The change must be internal and the most
important thing is that,

“India will change when people believe it will”.

 REFERENCES

SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN INDIA : Ram Ahuja, Second Edition, 2006, Rawat

Publications, printed at Nice Printing Press, New Delhi, Satyam Apts., Sector
3, Jawahar Nagar, Jaipur-302004 (India).

SOCIOLOGY – Themes and Perspectives : M. Haralambos with R.M.Head,

Thirty-fifth impression, 2009, printed in India by Chaman Enterprise, Delhi-
110002, published by Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai
Singh Road, New Delhi-110001.

MANORAMA YEARBOOK 2011 : 46th Year of Edition, printed and published

from Malayala Manorama Press, Kottayam-686011, by Mammen Mathew
on behalf of the Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd., Chief Editor- Mammen
Mathew, Mnaging Editor- Philip Mathew.

INTERNET :

• www.HighBeam.com/Journal_Research
• www.indiastat.com
• www.go.worldbank.org/NLCX7C1VC0

Other Institutions/Associations :

• Sadar Police Station, Silchar-Cachar (Assam).

• District Level Committee for Crimes Involving Women, Silchar- Cachar
(Assam).
• Juvenile Justice Board, Silchar-Cachar (Assam).
• Silchar New Life Foundation, Silchar-Cachar (Assam).
• Kalibari Char, Slum, Silchar-Cachar (Assam).