
Eros Times: Noida Family dispute resolution clinic (FDRC) is a unique initiative started by Police Commissionerate of
Gautam Buddh Nagar Police currently headed by the Commissioner of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar, IPS
Mrs. Laxmi Singh. In collaboration with Sharda University, under the visionary leadership of the
Hon’ble Chancellor, Mr. P.K. Gupta, Sharda University The Family Dispute Resolution Clinic was
established on July 10, 2020.

Nowadays, belief in marriage as a life-long bond for several lives has changed; even its significance
within society has changed drastically. As a result, police stations are flooded with marital dispute
complaints. The surge of complaints has raised the need for an alternative, more effective, quick, and
speedy mechanism to address this problem. A family dispute resolution clinic facilitates mediation
between parties. Mediation is one of the concepts that is very deeply rooted in our Indian culture of
dispute resolution. The roots of mediation can be traced way back to the ancient Indian legal systems; for example, the concept of “Shantidoot” before any war or battle was very prevalent in ancient India. If we
talk about the recent past, then the system known as the “Gram Panchayats” and “Nyaya Panchayats” was
popular and widely practiced in ancient rural India. Mediation is a dynamically structured voluntary
dispute resolution process where a neutral third party helps the disputing parties resolve the conflict
between them by using specialized communication and negotiation techniques.

To assign responsibilities and role play, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was renewed under the sign and seal of DCP women and child safety currently headed by IPS Preeti Yadav, Gautam Buddha Nagar, on behalf of the U.P. Police, and between Prof. Komal Vig, Dean, School of Law, Sharda University, on July 10, 2023.
A team consisting of different domain experts in the field of dispute resolution, headed by mediation
expert and senior counsellor Dr. Ritu Gautam, Assistant Professor of Law, has been constituted.
The team includes Dr. Avinash Krishna Goswami (Law expert), Dr. Kiran Sharma (mental health expert), Ms.
Bhawna Upadhyay (psychiatric social worker), Ms. Archna Dhanakar (Clinical psychiatry), Dr. Ruchi
Gautam (psychologist), Dr. Sanchita Ray (political Science expert), and Dr. Shivani Chauhan
(psychologist) and the team from police personals includes Head constable Gayatri Yadav (FDRC
Prabhari from Police), Constable Sonam, Constable Madhu and Constable Premlata.
This team dedicatedly provides counselling every Friday and Saturday and even the outbreak of the
pandemic COVID-19 couldn’t deter the team from performing their duties efficiently. The Family
Dispute Resolution Clinic has become the talk of the town by setting a never-before-before example with
an 87.81% success rate in resolving family disputes over the past three and a half years. The efforts of the
FDRC team have been appreciated on different platforms.