SCSC, Cyberabad Police train 1,000 first responders

Hyderabad: When one makes a distress call, the first responders are considered to be the most important part of the helping process. These responders counsel, help and guide the callers in making an informed choice of the next step to be taken. And in Telangana, two entities have been working silently for the past seven […]

Hyderabad: When one makes a distress call, the first responders are considered to be the most important part of the helping process.

These responders counsel, help and guide the callers in making an informed choice of the next step to be taken. And in Telangana, two entities have been working silently for the past seven years to train the first responders and provide the much-needed help to distress callers.

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The Cyberabad Police along with Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) has trained over 1,000 first responders through their Sanghamitra and Margadarshak programmes. In addition, the two entities have also trained over 50,000 people through its various awareness and education programmes that are conducted in companies in Hyderabad.

“We have been conducting training programmes for the last seven years and we first started with the Margadarshak programme wherein we train industry people who are nominated by their companies. These volunteers are trained in providing counseling to distress callers and they act as a bridge between the industry and police. Before we started this programme, we used to conduct awareness sessions wherein we used to train employees and make them aware about the different socio-legal measures available in the State,” Pratyusha Sharma, joint secretary, SCSC Women’s Forum told Telangana Today.

Under the Margadarshak programme, volunteers are trained for eight weeks about law and counseling methods when women in distress call the police. These volunteers are training in handling domestic violence, cyberstalking, and harassment cases.

Meanwhile, the Sanghamitra programme which is a fairly newer initiative is all set to launch its second batch wherein the focus is on the community. Anyone above the age of 25 can nominate themselves to volunteer and will help the police in responding to distress calls made for cases related to child abuse, child safety, and women safety.

“In the first batch, we trained over 150 people and provided certificates to 100 volunteers. The training happens on Saturday for five weeks and once the training is completed – which includes both physical classes and field visits – they are put on the call to guide the caller as per their needs,” says Sharma.

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