In the backdrop of 'Kanyashree', women empowerment to be theme of Kolkata Police programme

With the success of Kanyashree Prakalpa in the international arena, "women empowerment" has come up as the theme of Kolkata Police's forthcoming programme "Jai Ho".

On June 24, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee received the first prize in United Nations Public Service Award for Asia Pacific in The Netherlands for the project that was her brainchild.

An officer said the Chief Minister is also scheduled to be present in the programme that has been planned on August 17 at Netaji Indoor Stadium.

According to a senior officer, the Kolkata Police had taken up various measures for women empowerment in the past few years following the directions of the Chief Minister.

"For example, the Kolkata Police's Sukanya project to provide self-defence training to girls has become immensely successful and it has also provided an international platform to girls in Kickboxing World Cup­ 2016 held in Russia in September. The project "Sukanya" was also the brainchild of the Chief Minister," said the officer adding that with the success of all these projects it has been considered to choose "women empowerment" as the theme of this year's recreational programme of the Kolkata Police "Jai Ho".

Around 22 policemen and 12 policewomen will be performing in the programme and a major part of the show will be based on the theme on "women empowerment".

This year, eminent Odissi dancer Dona Ganguly will train the policemen and lady cops to perform in the programme, the officer added.

Though there is a plan to start the performance with a hymn like Durga Vandana keeping in mind the theme, details of the performance are yet to be finalised. On July 8 in 2016, the Chief Minister had launched state-wide campaign titled "Safe Drive, Save Life" to check road accidents.

There was a performance by 63 police personnel including 12 lady cops based on "Safe drive, Save life" campaign in "Jai Ho" programme held on August 19 in 2016 and it was being directed by eminent dancer Alokananda Roy.

According to the officer, another reason behind selecting the theme "women empowerment" is to make girl children more aware about the opportunities available for them in Bengal so that they can become self-dependent. At the same time it will also reflect how girls from the state are becoming successful in all walks of life.