BIS # 1282 EMPOWERING WOMEN TO SPEARHEAD DEVELOPMENT

Mayank Parmar sdb NARUKOT, FEBRUARY 14, 2009: Don Bosco Narukot organized a Women’s Empowerment Programme at Gandhra and Hirapur villages on February 9, 2009. Seventy-six women from different Self Help Groups participated in this programme. Ms. Nimiben Solanki, who has been working for women’s development since the past 15 years, was the resource person for the day. Drawing from her long and rich experience in this field, she shared several interesting ideas with the women. She emphasized the need of forming Sanghatans – SHGs coming together to form federations to tackle common problems. She also suggested the setting up of Women’s Cooperatives to market locally produced goods. After the session by Ms. Solanki, Fr. Stanny Ferreira enlightened the women on issues connected to the Panchayati Raj and especially the Gram Sabha. He focused on the role that women should play in these organs of local self governance. Further, he also gave a detailed presentation on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and exhorted the women to take advantage of this opportunity. The women found the entire programme extremely informative and useful. Commenting on the sessions, Jiviben Rathwa, president of one of the SHGs, said: “We are very happy that Don Bosco organized this programme and helped us understand so many issues about development. We are ready to take up these new initiatives, but we would need a lot of guidance from Don Bosco.”