MP mulls possibility of teaching students self defence skills

The Madhya Pradesh state government announced here today that a possibility of imparting self-defence training to school children is being examined, in the wake of the recent Peshawar school massacre in Pakistan which left 148 people, mostly students, dead.
"Right now we are discussing the pros and cons of imparting self defence training to school students," Madhya Pradesh Home and Jail Minister Babulal Gaur told reporters here, adding that such self-defence training is imparted to students in Israel and London.
Asked if it would be possible for school children to confront terrorists in any possible re-run of a Peshawar-like attack, he said that it would be too early to speak about the issue right now, since the idea is merely being discussed.

The MP Home Minister said that activities of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) have been noticed in 21 districts out of 51 districts in Madhya Pradesh.
Talking about the Maoist problem, he said that it is confined to merely one district of Balaghat, which is close to the Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra border.
Gaur said that 14 Maoists had been arrested and two had surrendered since January this year, besides a huge haul of weapons were recovered from them.

He said that the state had zero tolerance to crime against women and fast track courts which had been set up to try such cases had awarded death sentences in 17 cases as well as life imprisonments in 231 cases.

He said that a State Industrial Security Force (SISF) comprising 343 policemen has been formed, adding that the MP state government had signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with six industrial houses who would be provided security men according to their need, for which they would have to pay.
He said that closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras were installed in the four central jails of Gwalior, Jabalpur, Sagar and Ujjain during the last fiscal, adding that this facility would be extended to four more prisons shortly.