File Photo: Delhi University.
Delhi University's self defence training programme in association with the Delhi police which was earlier restricted to its regular colleges, will now also be extended to School of Open learning, the varsity's distance education wing.
Delhi Police had set a target of training 1,00,000 women in self defence at the beginning of this year and nearly half of the target was already achieved by the month of June.
"The Gender Sensitization Committee (GSC) is organising a Self-Defence Training Programme for girl students in close collaboration with Delhi Police. The training shall be organized in batches for 10 days till April 2016 and shall be held at three venues," a senior official of DU's School of Open Learning (SOL) said.
"Earlier the training was limited for the girls studying in regular colleges but now we have decided to extend it to SOL too. Though the students here do not attend regular classes but self defence training is important for girls to survive in society," he added.
The training programme will be free of cost for the students.
"At the end of the training programme two certificates shall be given from School of Open Learning and Delhi Police," the official said.
Self-defence training programme, deployment of additional police, anti-eve-teasing teams and emergency response vehicles are some of the fresh steps taken by Delhi Police for the safety and security of girl students in DU.
Police pickets have been deployed at strategic points to prevent and detect crime in the campuses, Emergency Response Vehicles and Quick Response Teams have been deployed for safety and security of students.
Mobile and foot patrolling have also been intensified in the campuses of the university to inculcate the feeling of safety and security among the students.