DAVANGERE: Aimed at empowering girl students and to protect them from attacks by perpetrators, the State government has decided to impart training in self-defence techniques such as Karate, Taekwondo and Judo on a pilot basis. Post-matric girl students residing in Social Welfare and Backward Classes and Minorities hostels are being covered under the programme.
Under the programme, there will be spending Rs 4,000 per month for trainers and Rs 1,36,000 as cost of training and uniforms for 100 students and Rs 68,000 for the hostels with 50 students. The aim of the training is to empower the girls.
Selected trainers will be given Rs 4,000 for eight months for training, Rs 800 as travelling expenses per hostel. Each student will also be receiving Rs 500 as uniform expenses once in a year.
The trainers have to visit each hostel twice a week and eight times a month for imparting training. Each session will be of sixty minutes duration and various self-defence techniques will be taught to the girl students. Before the commencement of the course, each and every girl student will undergo a health test.
The training programme will be held only for a period of three months from January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2022 in the first year and it will be a regular training from next academic year onwards. About 69,867 students across 629 hostels belonging to backward classes & minorities and same number of students from social welfare department are eligible for the training programme in Karnataka.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, district social welfare officer Reshma Kousar said this programme will build confidence among girls to face any dangerous situation.
"We have already selected martial arts trainers and the programme begins from January 1. This will also boost leadership skills among rural girl students. The trainees will be taught ways to tackle the perpetrators," she added.