Delhi Police holds self-defence workshop for 40 female Zomato delivery partners

As part of their self-defence training programme, a special unit of the Delhi Police on Thursday held a self-defence training session for 40 Zomato female delivery partners who make doorstep deliveries in the Capital.

As part of their self-defence training programme, a special unit of the Delhi Police on Thursday held a self-defence training session for 40 Zomato female delivery partners who make doorstep deliveries in the Capital.

The session was conducted in line with the Special Police Unit for Women and Children’s (SPUWAC) efforts to empower women and create legal awareness amongst them. The unit has also held multiple training sessions for school and college students and Resident Welfare Association employees.

The self-defence programme, which began in 2002, includes steps on training women how to make use of their dupattas, stationery and handbags to protect themselves from attack. It also helps build the self-esteem of women so that they do not feel vulnerable or humiliated, an officer said.

The Delhi Police has, so far, trained over 5.48 lakh girls and woman through this initiative. Over 65,000 women were trained in 2023-24 alone. Apart from routine camps, annual summer and winter camps are also organised by the special unit during summer and winter vacations at locations across the national capital.

The workshop for the Zomato delivery partners was held to enhance awareness in the participants, who work odd hours while making deliveries and often face harassment, an officer said. Ajay Chaudhry, Special Commissioner of Police, SPUWAC, acted as chief guest. The event was also attended by the SPUWAC Joint Commissioner and senior managers at Zomato.

“Zomato is a gig-first platform and is strongly committed towards building an inclusive ecosystem. We have made, and continue to make, significant investments to ensure our delivery partners are safeguarded,” Zomato Food Delivery CEO Rakesh Ranjan told The Hindu.

“With our female delivery partner onboarding programme, over 2,000 inspiring women leverage our platform to participate in and earn from last-mile deliveries. Maternity insurance and paid period leaves are some of the initiatives we launched in the past to ensure the wellbeing of our female delivery partners,” Mr Ranjan added.