| Put in operation last year only, this initiative
has generated employment on a massive scale for the poor & needy bringing a
sea change in the thinking, living and over all personality of the women in
this small hilly terrain. The process of teaching lessons by local experts
which lasts 10 days entails motivation lessons, training in mushroom
yielding and composting. To give exposure to them, they are taken to various
places for their awareness and after learning the basics, they themselves
display a demo to others like them.
"Our main motive is to create women empowerment by providing self-local
employment in their homes & meeting their objective of rearing their family
which will improve their economic condition without having them to leave
their children or village" asserts Chairman & Managing Director, B.M
Verma.
The problem of unemployment is rampant in the city which has made the men
folk laid back, careless or even migrate to other cities leading to the
birth of this idea. Earlier a Luke warm response from the families had put a
halt to the practice. Initially the women were also reluctant. They were
discouraged in their homes and threatened by societal stigmas, because of
which some even refused to continue.
Gradually after persuasion and motivation a sense of acceptance gained
strength with the assurance and confidence of minister. She posed a great
faith in their abilities saying 'women are more dedicated and committed
than men, all they need is motivation and support.' This made them more
determined to experiment with it in an area spread over a spectrum of
Dehradun, Rishikesh, Nazibabad, Pauri and Kumaon.
Facts also reveal that revenue from areas where these groups started
working has soared to 25 percent and cases of power theft have gone down by
15 percent.
As the number of SHG's has gone up to 41 in almost 10 hill districts
covering nearly 5,000 villages and benefiting over 1.2 lakh consumers, each
women has consequently started earning nearly Rs..3,000 per month.
"I had lost my husband ten years ago, problems at home & the thought
of future of my children were constantly boggling me. I had no where to go,
when I encountered an NGO running this scheme. Now I am fully trained, I can
install meters and repair transformers and earn enough to feed my children"
hails Razia Begum expressing her gratitude towards Uttaranchal state
government.
Though the initiative is still a Pilot project, it has already attracted
a bunch of 400 women across Uttaranchal following which a huge demand for
permanent jobs has been engendered among the locals who have been employed
on a contract basis to test the validity and success of the scheme.
Another proposal is making route at the central government level wherein
poor village women would be converted into small business women each to
arrange for tools and training of compatriots using the incentives they make
as a result of the implementation of the scheme. This whole new scheme which
is in the offing has been named "Input based Franchisee."
The Hon'ble Minister for Power Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde, on his last visit
was highly impressed by Uttaranchal Presentation and in his speech indicated
that this model was reaching the poorest of the society and advised other
states to embrace and adopt it soon.
Thus it can be rightly said, Albeit Women cannot replace men, they can
unquestionably assume their abdicated role….
E-mail :
newseditor@sarkaritel.com
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