Members of women’s organisations, activists and the public came together to pay homage to Jaya Arunachalam, founder of the Working Women’s Forum (India) on Thursday.
Jaya Arunachalam died on June 29 in Chennai. Through the forum, she had brought together several women and led the way for their economic independence and development.
“Having worked with her for over 36 years, she taught me and thousands of other women the importance of being a leader. Dr. Jaya’s focus was on ensuring that we stood on our own feet and she insisted that we should, in turn, reach out to 10 other women,” said K. Parvathy, a supervisor with the women’s forum.
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Several other members of the WWF echoed Ms. Parvathy’s sentiments and said that Dr. Jaya Arunachalam, a Padma Shri awardee, was instrumental in not just ensuring their sustained economic stability, but also focused on societal concerns.
“We were cautioned, made aware about how not to fall into debt traps and were encouraged to showcase our entrepreneurship skills. Dr. Jaya spoke to us about the importance of equality in our society and said that we should stand up for and support other women,” said K. Kamakshi, another member of the forum.
Recalling Dr. Jaya Arunachalam’s journey, Nandini Azad, her daughter and president of the Indian Cooperative Network for Women Limited (ICNW) and the Working Women’s Forum, said that she started working for the cause of empowering women when there was very little support for them.
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“The movement was her life and she envisioned for the forum and the cooperative a growth by leaps and bounds. She met several members on a daily basis and spent her time interacting with them. We’ve had so many women share stories about how much she has influenced their lives,” Dr. Nandini said.
She said that they would all work towards taking the forum to more women and empowering them.