Pune Police wants all parties video-taped from start to finish

Pune: After the recent crackdown on a rave party that was taking place near Karjat, the Pune Rural police have floated stricter guidelines and made it mandatory for party organisers to take prior permission for the event and make advance submission of a list of the guests expected with records of their addresses and contact numbers. In addition, the police also want the party event to be video-recorded from start to finish.

MiD DAY spoke to resort owners in and around the city, who said the new guidelines are too strict. Some of them, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said such guidelines would only result in bribe-taking on the part of the police. Pune Restaurant and Hotelier Association Chairman Ganesh Shetty said the new rules would make the holding of parties an organisational nightmare.

"It means no party if the rules are to be followed. How can we submit a list of expected guests in advance, as it is difficult to have the contact numbers beforehand? How we will be able to differentiate family gatherings from bigger parties? We feel that these guidelines will give a chance to the cops to gatecrash family gatherings taking place on farmhouses. Very rarely bigger parties involving 300 to 400 guests take place, the rest are gathering of extended family and friends," Shetty said. "We have not received formal guidelines from the rural police yet. Once we get these, we will meet the Superintendent of Police."

The Pune Restaurant and Hotelier Association has 550 members, including five to six owners of resorts that fall in the jurisdiction of Pune Rural. The Pune Rural police are firm on the strict implementation of the guidelines and say that these are necessary to ensure no illegal activities takes place at the numerous party venues in the jurisdiction of Pune Rural police.

MiD DAY spoke to Superintendent of Police Sandip Karnik, who said, "We will be strict and ensure that the guidelines are followed by party organisers."

College party rules

Karnik reasoned that the police have asked college representative to be present at parties involving college students to ensure that the college authorities remain aware of such events. He added that the video shooting of party events was not only to keep a watch but was also necessary from the point of view of safety of those attending the event. He said the new guidelines would ensure that neither organisers nor participants would be able to shrug off their responsibility if anything untoward happens.

What resorts have to say

In case of college parties, how will students enjoy if the faculty members are present at the party venue? As for the guidelines, we will have to follow the guidelines if the police insist, but some of the guidelines are difficult to follow, like keeping a record of expected party attendees and video-recording of the entire party.
-- Abhijit Shelar, Hotel Sarovar

The addition of such stringent rules may increase incidents of bribe-taking. We already pay a lot of taxes, and now these additional guidelines will make functioning of hotels even more difficult. How are the police going to stop the illegal things taking place at private bungalow parties? It is not feasible to take written permission for parties for a small number of people.
-- Shashikant Mane, Senior Personnel of Manas Resort

Taking written permission will not be a problem, but maintaining a record of names, telephone numbers and addresses, and the video-recording of the entire party will be difficult. I welcome the attendance of a representative from the educational institute in case of college parties, but other things will be difficult.  However, we'll follow the guidelines if the police insist.
-- Dilip Watawe, Manas Resort, Bhugaon, Mulshi

What colleges have to say

The college only organises freshers' parties and all the faculty members are present at the event, but we don't take any responsibility if students organise parties on their own.
-- Raman Preet, PIBM

Students from post-graduate colleges are mature enough. They are in their 20's, they don't need to be monitored like kids. If the event is organised by the institute, then, certainly, faculty members attend the event. And if the students party on their own, I expect them to behave in a proper manner.
-- Pramod Kumar, ISBM