New Delhi, Aug 15 : Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar has launched an online portal TAPAS (Training for Augmenting Productivity and Services), developed by the National Institute of Social Defence under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Ministers of State Ramdas Athawale and Sushri Pratima Bhoumik also joined the event on Saturday. TAPAS is the initiative of National Institute of Social Defence (NISD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, to provide access to lectures by subject experts, study material and more, but in a manner that it supplements the physical classroom without compromising on the quality of teaching. The main objective of introducing the course modules is to impart training and enhance the knowledge and skills for the capacity building of the participants. It can be taken up by anyone who wishes to enhance his or her knowledge on the topics and there is no fee for joining. The five basic courses are on Drug (Substance) Abuse Prevention, Geriatric/Elderly Care, Care and Management of Dementia, Transgender Issues and on comprehensive course on Social Defence Issues. Dr. Kumar said that the online medium of learning will enable the Ministry in reaching out to an even larger number of people working in this area of social defence. He urged everyone to enroll for the course for a better understanding of issues such as substance abuse prevention, elderly care, transgender welfare and beggary prevention. "Everyone working in the field of social defence is encouraged to enroll for the course. It is an online course and one can utilise this facility to its full potential," Dr. Kumar said. "In our education system, where the offline mode of teaching is so deeply entrenched, this course will lead the path of change and open up new possibilities. There is no dearth of respect and regard for our age-old guru-shishya parampara, but there's no reason why it can't be transited to the online medium. Hence, let us embark on this new journey and increase our horizon when it comes to learning and gaining knowledge," he further added. The idea of TAPAS was conceptualised at a time when exploring the online medium for work and education had become imperative due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. /IANS