The Ministry of Panchayati Raj organised a three-day Training of Trainers (ToT) programme on Nirbhay Chetna under the Nirbhaya Fund project in New Delhi. The Ministry also launched the Nirbhay Chetna training module during the program.

The Ministry said that Nirbhay Chetna is a national initiative on the sensitisation of men towards women-related issues, including women’s safety and security, that aims to strengthen gender-responsive governance at the grassroots level.

The Ministry added that the pilot batch comprised around 40 master trainers from six states, including Assam, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Uttarakhand and will serve as the foundation for a cascading training model to be expanded across all States and Union Territories.

In his address during the event, which concluded yesterday, Secretary of Panchayati Raj, Vivek Bharadwaj, said that the vision of Viksit Bharat cannot be realised without ensuring the safety, dignity, and equal participation of women. He highlighted the pivotal role of Panchayats as institutions of social and democratic transformation, capable of driving meaningful change in attitudes and behaviours at the grassroots level.

Emphasising the objective of Nirbhay Chetna, he noted that the initiative seeks to foster gender-sensitive leadership by positioning women’s dignity, safety, and opportunities as essential pillars of development.

Nirbhay Chetna is a key intervention under the Nirbhay Raho initiative, launched on 11th March 2026. Under the initiative, so far a cadre of 28 thousand 500 Master Trainers is being developed at the State, district, and block levels to reach over 17 lakh male elected representatives across the country.