BAREILLY: The Rani Laxmibai Self-Defence Programme , started in August this year, is a three-month training scheme in martial arts for girl students across UP. Its scope is vast, covering 1,800 government inter colleges and more than 1 lakh girl students from Class IX to XII. Some of the girls, who have been undergoing training, say that along with self-defence, the course has taught them how to respond to harassment.Geeta Gupta, 15, used to be routinely harassed on her way to school, but was too afraid to do anything. "On Monday, when the youths did it again, I stared back at them and showed them my clenched fists. They fled. From now on, I will not stand down if this kind of thing happens again," she said.With the programme hitting its stride, an increasing number of girls are joining it. "The girls were initially shy and claimed that they would not be able to punch hard. However, after a few days of training, they opened up and were excited about being trained in martial arts. We have plans to teach them certain techniques used in judo, karate and kick boxing," said Shadab Alam, a trainer at Government Girls Inter College in Bareilly.The state government has provided trainers from UP Judo Association to these government schools. They have to organize self-defence camps thrice in a week for at least an hour. At the end of their training, participants will be given a certificate issued by the government.Bareilly district inspector of schools Achal Mishra said, "The state government has introduced this scheme for the first time. Learning self-defence skills will make girls independent and help them in tackling any untoward incident. The girls can also share self-defence tips with other women in their family."Shakshi Maurya, a Class IX student, said, "If anybody tries to harass me in future, I know how to protect myself. Now, I can freely roam around in the city."Shashibala Pandey, principal of Government Girls Inter College, said, "As we have nearly 1,500 students, we have been organizing trainings in different shifts to accommodate all students. Though it has been only three weeks, the girls have become more confident and are often seen sacrificing their games period for practice."

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