The Balussery block panchayat is gearing up to become the first women-friendly panchayat in the district by March 2015 with a slew of projects.
The mission is being taken up with the support of seven grama panchayats under its control. Special focus is on empowering women through various new self-employment schemes and generating maximum employment opportunities for them with the support of private employers.
A total of Rs.20 lakh, including the aid sanctioned by the Union government, has been earmarked for this. Promotional programmes to draw the attention of women, who are the sole beneficiaries of the scheme, are under way in all the grama panchayats.
Block panchayat president A.K. Mani says all women’s organisations, including the Kudumbasree Mission and various cooperative societies, will team up for the cause and cooperate with the promotional campaigns. “Our main target is to train more and more women in new self-employment ventures and ensure their permanent placement in the private sector,” he says.
To begin with, the panchayat has started giving training to select women in catering technology, food processing, plumbing, and wiring. A society will be registered soon for the coordination of these units in various locations.
Arrangements are also in place to give training certificates to women who have completed their training in various trades. Women who have completed their training in plumbing and wiring will be given work in houses constructed under the Indira Awaas Yojana.
On March 8, International Women’s Day, the panchayat will open an exclusive office for the coordination of its programmes. “Our plan is to make a formal declaration on women-friendly panchayat on March 31,” says Mr. Mani.
Till that date, the panchayat will strive to implement a number of programmes, including awareness programmes to prevent dowry and child marriage and legal awareness classes.
