Students of the Renuka Swaroop Girls School can now dream of becoming world-class sharpshooters.

Girls' school aims to achieve global mark

Students of the Renuka Swaroop Girls School can now dream of becoming world-class sharpshooters. The school is spending Rs 1.25 crore to modernise its shooting range and turn it into an international-standard shooting facility by July.

"By spending Rs 1.25 crore, the school is now developing the new shooting range. The idea behind setting up this infrastructure is to help the girls sharpen their skills to achieve international standards," said Pramod Gorhe, vice-president of Maharashtra Education Society (MES) that runs the school.

The present shooting range was started two years ago and so far over 150 girls and young women have been trained.

"MES established its first military school for girls, the Jhansi ki Rani Military School, at Pirangut village near the city a decade ago and there we impart the same training," said Gorhe.

Focus, confidence
Savita Kajarekar, principal of Renuka Swaroop, said, "The idea of converting the present shooting range into an international one was to mark the 75th year celebrations of the school. Firing from a pistol or rifle shooting is a sport that requires courage, concentration and confidence."

Girls with guns
Siddhi Kame (11) and Rashmi Kadam (16) never miss shooting practice at the school. "Shooting pistol and rifle is a favourite sport in our family," said Siddhi, a Std VII student of Renuka Swaroop. Siddhi's mother, Pooja, took inspiration from her father, a retired senior police officer, R G Thakur, to learn shooting.

Rashmi, who learns shooting at Renuka Swaroop and is a first year arts student of Fergusson College, said, "My aim is to become an international shooter."

Towering ambition
Mayuri Mukharji (23), a national pistol shooter from the city who trains girls at Renuka Swaroop, recently passed the examination for judges and range officials conducted by the International Shooting Federation with 88 per cent marks. Mayuri is aiming for the 2012 London Olympics, followed by the Commonwealth Youth Games in Delhi.

Police Inspector Sushama Chavan, a former student of Renuka Swaroop, said, "Learning shooting is very good for a girl. It is useful for self-defence."