Mahila Mitra volunteers in Visakhapatnam undergo training

Visakhapatnam Police conducted a training program for Mahila Mitra volunteers on Thursday at MVP Colony in an attempt to make the city’s women feel safer. The program began on Thursday under the supervision of Visakhapatnam city police commissioner RK Meena. Speaking on the occasion, the police commissioner urged women to partner with the Mahila Mitra program for their benefit. DCP-1 Udaya Bhaskar, K Srinivasa Rao, Mahila Mandali president Dr. Keerthi were in attendance at the training program among other officials. Post the event, a newsletter was also released by the police force. The training program comes in days after the heinous rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad.

Mahila Mitra is the brainchild of the Director-General of Police (DGP) Gautam Sawang that was launched in August this year. It was initiated for women who feel hesitant to approach the police in case of any trouble. The program aims to address a range of issues women face on a daily basis including workplace harassment, dowry, assault, and molestation among others.

The design of the initiative is to allot ten volunteers for every police station who will be educated and trained about women’s protection laws. They will work closely with the women police constables in the respective station to resolve issues concerning women in the jurisdiction. The volunteers are also being trained to conduct awareness workshops at places of work and educational institutions to help resolve their issues faster. Mahila Mitra was launched in Vijayawada, to begin with, and is now being implemented in a full-fledged manner in Visakhapatnam. The officials hope to launch the programmes in various rural areas and hamlets very soon.

The Andhra Pradesh police have also launched a drop-home service after the Hyderabad rape incident. The service is currently operational in parts of Ongole and will be available from 9 pm to 5 am every day.