Diamond Harbour Women's Univ to introduce post graduate course on Disaster Management
kolkata: Diamond Harbour Women's University (DHWU) is all set to introduce a post graduate diploma course on Disaster Management from this academic year.
The university authorities believe that such a course will be very beneficial for the students as majority of them hail from the remote islands of Sunderbans, where natural calamities are a common phenomenon.
"The state government has developed infrastructure for rescue and rehabilitation of the people as soon as there is any warning of natural calamity like cyclone, heavy rainfall etc. However, we believe that if the students have a good knowledge of how to save themselves from such natural calamities, they can share the same with their parents and neighbours and this will be helpful for the entire community," Soma Bandyopadhyay, Vice-Chancellor of DHWU said.
It has been found that in some cases there is still a reluctance among the villagers for shifting to a safer location in the fear of losing their belongings even when there is a warning of inclement weather.
"This is where, the community knowledge of disaster management may come handy," a senior university official said.DHWU offers post graduate studies in 17 courses in Science and Arts stream.
The varsity has some 1,200 odd students with hostel facilities for 100 students. The university is also planning to start a course on Ecology and Biodiversity, which will be the first-of-its-kind in the state.
"We will be offering a 6 months certificate course in Folklore Studies and a one year diploma course in Dalit Studies from this academic year that is expected to start from July," Bandyopadhyay said. The university on the occasion of Women's Day has taken a significant stride in ensuring the
safety and security of its students by launching Aastha app in association with the district police.
There is a number in the App and as soon as a student taps this number, it sends a signal and the police station in the nearest location is alerted.
The DHWU came into existence in 2013 and was recognised by UGC in 2016. The university with majority of its students being first generation learners has received constant support and inspiration from the
apex level of the state Higher
Education Department.
