Lucknow: The ‘Shakti Didi’ campaign has been launched by the Women and Child Security Organisation (WCSO) wing of the UP Police.
This entails women inspectors and sub-inspectors in every district to raise awareness among young girls about women’s safety and cyber security.
The ‘Shakti Didi’ campaign will focus on students from Classes 6th to 8th across over 68 districts. Trained officers will visit schools over the upcoming months to educate students on topics such as appropriate touch, inappropriate touch, street safety, and online security.
The WCSO has collaborated with the national children’s rights organisation, Plan India, to provide Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials for distribution in schools.
This initiative is spearheaded by Ruchita Chaudhury, Superintendent of Police, WCSO.
These materials have been produced in the form of posters to be displayed in schools, guiding children on how to stay vigilant regarding cyber security and preventing sexual harassment. In the initial rollout, 10,500 posters have been printed and disseminated across the 68 districts.
Sudhir Kumar Rai, technical lead at Plan India, said that the content for these materials received approval from the Basic Education Department, and helpline numbers were included on the posters based on the department’s suggestion.
For the campaign launch, the UP Police 112 Headquarters in each district sent five police officials. These officers participated in a Training for Trainers (TOT) programme where they were briefed on how to communicate with children regarding topics like cyber safety, appropriate touch, and inappropriate touch.
Subsequently, they will return to their respective districts to train their colleagues, the Shakti Didis, before commencing school visits to engage with students.
A WCSO officer said, “An initial meeting took place in August, involving seven police commissionerates in the planning stage. Later, we decided to expand the launch and involve more police officers to expedite the fieldwork by the Shakti Didis.”
