Kasna: More than 3,000 girls have been trained to brave threats to their security in the past three years through a project jointly sponsored by a New Delhi-based NGO and a paints firm.
In the current academic year, Deepalaya and Asian Paints have reached out to 392 girl students of schools located in Dankour block of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh under their project called STEADY (Support to Training Education and Development of Youth). These girls, in their turn, trained 3,083 girls in their schools.
The project has become relevant at a time when rape cases are on the rise in the National Capital Region.
The project is initiated by the Kasna plant of Asian Paints Limited under their Corporate Social Responsibility activities and implemented by Deepalaya. It seeks to empower girls to put up a fight in case they face threats to their security, the organizers explain.
The idea was to make the project sustainable with making the girls as trainers. The students were given 10 sessions of self-defense training.
Apart from self-defense training, 1,939 students received career counseling sessions that educated them about the innumerable opportunities available to them after they completed tenth grade. They were also counseled about subjects they should choose.
More than 200 boys were given yoga training sessions to bring a behavioral change. The boys who were known for mischief in school have now become disciplined and interact with the girls respectfully, the organizers claimed.
A function was organized recently to celebrate the project’s success after a year of toiling in the field. It was held at Savitri Bai Phule Inter College, Kasna, in the presence of representatives of Asian Paints Limited, Deepalaya and 10 schools in Dankour block.
The chief guest was Babita Nagar, an international wrestler, who motivated the girls saying there was nothing that they could not do.
Girls from Savitri Bai Phule Inter College presented a skit showcasing the skills learnt from self-defense sessions.
The project is like an Oasis in Greater Noida, where schools lack basic infrastructural facilities to lend a direction to the students and youth.