Crime news in India is as regular as your morning cup of tea. While all state governments in India have made an effort to bring about enhancements for citizen security, one area that is of utmost importance is that of women safety. One cannot say a lot of good about the security conditions of women in India. Since the past several centuries, women in India have not been very lucky in getting equal opportunities as compared to their male counterparts. The patriarchal nature of Indian society, which even though gives respect to women as mothers and sisters, has greatly hampered both the independence as well as the safety of women.
Times are changing and so are our women. Credit must be given to a robust women’s movement that has given forceful expression to the aspirations of women and joined issue with all the organs of state legislative, executive and judicial for reviewing the age-old prescriptions of a patriarchal society. Some of the key indicators of development have perked up significantly, women’s life expectancy has risen; education levels have improved; economic participation has grown. How society and economy are coping with the forces of modernization differs substantially from region to region. Rajasthan is one such state that is leading the country in terms of policy rejuvenation and enhancement for women and girls empowerment, not too surprising given the greatly patriarchal society has elected a strong Woman leader to lead the State.
While the Nation struggles to identify means to strengthen women’s rights and addressing social barriers, young girls in Rajasthan are finding their own way out. When she came into power the second time around, CM Vasundhara Raje knew she had to start her fight for empowering the girls and women of the state from the scratch again. The sector has seen too little or no development in the previous Congress regime, so much so that even schemes started by Raje in her previous regime like Bhamashah scheme were stopped. As soon as she took over the Government, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje re-launched her dream project for women’s financial independence – the Bhamashah Scheme. The scheme was a revolution in itself since for the first time ever in India, all benefits were to be transferred to the head of the family – the woman of the house. Raje has often said – “Women are the essence of Prosperity & Positive Change. When a Woman learns, her family learns and learning of the whole society follows.”
Applying these words into actions in true sense, the Rajasthan Government has initiated a scheme called ‘Saksham’. The State Sports Council has launched this programme to train girls from the 6th to 12th standard in the art of self-defense. After successful implementation of inaugural pilot program in Jaipur in 2014, CM Vasundhara Raje has decided to allocate additional budget for yet another chapter of Saksham Program. Spanning across 33 districts of Rajasthan, this edition that kick started in the first week of Feb 2016 aims at training over 1.5 Lakh girls from over 500 government and private schools and colleges. Young girls in Rajasthan are everyday getting trained to become self-empowered and self-reliant. A mission of training 1.5 lakh girls has been set in the programme to not just teach the girls in basic art of self defense but also to create awareness in the society at large. The participants will benefit immensely in terms of physical attributes – increased strength and stamina, greater flexibility, increase in agility and faster reflexes. Moreover, the program will make the participant stronger mentally as it aims to enhance self-confidence, self-belief, peace of mind and lower stress.
A 10 days 10 hours program was implemented across 500 schools and colleges in Rajasthan for the months of February and March 2016. Each day comprises of one-hour session that has been developed by experts using elements from various martial arts. While the training is completely free, certification will be provided to all participating girls by their trainers.
The program seems to be making real-life changes in the lives of young girls of Rajasthan. Such training is not just making them aware about their strengths; it is helping them realize their potential, usually suppressed by the gender discrimination they often have to face. A young girl from Maharani Balika Vidyalay in Bundi, put her practice to test along with her friends, when she dealt with a local punk who used to unnecessarily tease and follow her. The girls then took the goon to a local police station and got him arrested. A student of Poddar deaf and dumb school, Anchal says she has changed in ways more than one. She says she has no fear and now she travels to school from home everyday alone. Prepared, aware and confident girls are being shaped in the schools of Rajasthan, day after day. Training has been imparted to 1,40,000 girls already. We may soon have an army of warrior girls in Rajasthan, ready to conquer the world, one step at a time.
