By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: It is said that ‘self help is the best help’ and in line with this, the Directorate of Civil Defence and Homeguard has come up with the ‘noble proposal’ of providing unarmed combat training to girls and working women below 25 years of age considering the increasing number of rapes and crime against women in the State.
The proposed one-week training scheduled to start from July will be provided with an aim to equip the young women with basic fighting skills to defend themselves and also to boost their confidence.
“We are proposing to impart such trainings to the young ladies below the age of 25, be it college students or working women, with an aim to prepare them for any kind of danger. The training will aim to create situational awareness in these girls,” Director General of Civil Defence and Homeguard Kulbir Krishan said here on Wednesday.
He also informed that during the initial stage, the department is planning to enroll about 30-40 girls in a group and the number can be increased depending on the response from the people.
The State has seen a steep rise in the number of rape cases and cases of sexual assault in the last few months and the administration is looking for means to check the crime which has left it red faced quite a few times.
Meanwhile, the directorate is also imparting a five-day basic training on first aid and medical emergencies to as many as 28 traffic personnel of Shillong.
The training which began on Monday will impress upon the role of a traffic police in preventing major injuries to accident victims and helping save lives. Basic training on first aid and medical treatment will also be provided.
“As they say the first hour is the golden hour, it is therefore very important for a first witness in the scene to be equipped with basic first aid skills to help the patient,” the DG said adding that since, in most instances, the traffic personnel are usually the first witnesses to such cases, a need was felt to train them.
According to Junior Inspector, Central Training Institute, Willy Nonglang, the 28 traffic police personnel will be provided training on first aid transport casualty, basic life support, CPR-cardiac arrest besides others.