NEW DELHI: Delhi Police’s Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC) has written to RWAs, NGOs, educational institutions and hospitals for conducting self-defence training programmes for women and girls, said officials on Sunday.
The programmes, which are conducted free of cost by SPUWAC, were briefly discontinued last year due to the pandemic.
Later, they were conducted online.
The fresh move comes as Covid cases in the national capital has come down in recent weeks and the state government has relaxed norms for opening educational institutions in the city
SPUWAC conducts 10-day self-defence training programmes and one-day workshops both in-person and online.
These are conducted by women inspectors of the unit trained in martial arts.
With schools reopening and more people stepping out of their homes, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Self-defence, SPUWAC) Sunita Sharma wrote to various NGOs, RWAs, educational institutions, BPOs and hospitals, inviting them to host the programmes for their women staff and girls.
More than 45 staff members from Sharma’s unit are working in coordination with district officers to collect data of NGOs, schools, RWAs and hospitals spread across the 15 police districts, said a senior police officer.
“After collecting the data required, each of our staff members will verify those details and approach at least 15 organisations every day to persuade them to conduct the self-defence training programme,” the officer said.
Self-defence training boosts the confidence of women and children and prepares them to protect themselves in case they don’t receive immediate help when needed, the officer added.
Officials said the idea behind the initiative is to impart self-defence training to as many women and children in the city as possible.
Recently, SPUWAC organised a 15-day training programme for the National Association for Blind at Hauz Khas.
A total of 30 visually challenged women and girls were imparted with self-defence training and they were taught to deal with anti-social elements and how to prevent stalking and assault, A V Deshpande, Additional Commissioner of Police (SPUWAC) said.