The CISF, which has the country’s largest component of combat women amongst paramilitary forces, has embarked on training its 6,000 girls in unarmed combat.
The decision was announced on the occasion of the Women’s Day today by CISF DG Arvind Ranjan as he talked to reporters here.
“We have decided to conduct a special training session for our women personnel in unarmed combat techniques. We will be inviting some of the best trainers in this domain to teach our girls who are enrolled in combat duties,” Ranjan said.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has a large strength of women personnel in its ranks for the sheer reason of its deployment at country’s 59 civil airports, Delhi Metro stations, public installations in government and private domain and deployment at historical monuments.
While the women personnel and officers are usually trained in combat skills, weapon-handling and personal safety before their induction, a senior official said a need was felt to give them a special sesssion in ‘unarmed’ combat tasks owing to their exposure in the public.
These women personnel also have to travel at odd hours to report to and sign-off from duty and during these times they may not carry their weapons or don their ‘khaki’ uniform, an official said.
At such times, training of unarmed fight skills is very essential. Such trainers sharpen the reflexes of their pupil and make them undergo rigorous efforts to prepare a flexible and robust body ready for any possible assault, a senior official said.
“We know after such a training, a pair of our women personnel will be able to take on at least ten people at one time,” Ranjan said.