MSDE commences its Skill India Self-Defence Training workshop for its Female Employees; Aims to scale it up targeting other ministries and departments

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This self-defence programme has been designed by SPEFL-SC based on the world’s best fighting systems like Krav Maga, Kali, Silat, Wing Chun, and others

New Delhi, 28^th March, 2022 (GNI): In alignment with the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s visionary programme ‘Mission Karmayogi’, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship today inaugurated a five-day self-defence training – “Meri Suraksha, Meri Zimmedari”. The programme has been organised by the Sports, Physical Education, Fitness and Leisure Skills Council (SPEFL-SC) and has witnessed the participation of more than 50 women. Mission Karmayogi’ by Shri Narendra Modi is a one of a kind initiative that focuses on the capacity building while modernizing the thinking and the approach of the government employees.

This self-defence programme has been designed by SPEFL-SC based on the world’s best fighting systems like Krav Maga, Kali, Silat, Wing Chun and others. The instructors are experts in teaching the world’s best techniques along with situational awareness. These techniques have been designed by combat experts with 15 years of experience, and are easy to learn and execute under threat.

While explaining the importance of such workshops, Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said, “Women’s safety is the government’s top priority, and with this self-defence programme, we hope to encourage women to enroll in such training modules to protect themselves from any kind of assault or threat. The ministry is committed to establishing platforms where women can learn how to defend themselves from self defence experts. Furthermore, it is critical to create a safer environment for women in order to ensure the safety and integrity of the country’s female workforce, and this is a small step in the right direction. We hope this pilot is a successful one and we are able to take these sessions to other ministries, departments, schools and organisations in a more structured and outcome based workshop.”

Commenting on the initiative, Mr Tahsin Zahid, CEO, Sports, Physical Education, Fitness & Leisure Skills Council, said, “A safer environment for women is the need of the hour, initiatives like these are the step in the right direction. Self-defence should be encouraged among women to ensure that they are self-reliant when it comes to defending themselves in an event of a threat.”

One of the women employees, expressed her gratitude for the workshop, “Self-defence skills are vital for everyone, especially for working women like us. Knowing that we have the capacity to defend ourselves makes us feel secure and self-reliant. It has been an enriching experience for all of us.”

On the backdrop of an increase in crime against women, learning self-defence skills is the need of the hour for women to safeguard themselves. Being cautious is the key to being safe. Learning self-defence techniques will help women in becoming more aware, cautious and equipped in times of danger against these criminals. It will also help in mitigating the number of crimes against women.

The training programme is aimed at equipping women with a safeguard mechanism to tackle threatening situations. The goal is to empower and enable them to protect themselves against real-life scenarios such as sexual assaults, kidnapping, molestation, bullying etc. The participants in the self defence programme are being taught to tackle multiple assault situations, especially mugging. Moreover, women are also being trained to counter knife and pistol-driven attacks with day-to-day objects that could be used as weapons against a potential killer. Furthermore, the training also includes tips on the defence against slaps, punches, street smartness and the usage of the Nirbhaya Self Defence Kit.

The training programme was inaugurated by Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, MSDE in the presence of Ms Anuradha Vemuri, Joint Secretary, MSDE, Shri Atul Kumar Tiwari, Additional Secretary, MSDE, Ms Prabha Sharma, Under Secretary, MSDE and Shri Tahsin Zahid, CEO, Sports, Physical Education, Fitness & Leisure Skills Council (SPEFL-SC)

With initiatives like these, MSDE is actively progressing towards creating a safer work environment for women. Additionally, to equip the participants with safety gear, the Nirbhaya Self Defence Kit will also be distributed to all participants along with the participation certificate, stated in the press release.