It is sad that even after 6 decades of gaining independence the women have still not been given her just place in society. There are several clear indicators that point out the fact that women face discrimination in society in one form or the other. Data relating to maternal mortality. infanticide, sex ratio, drop out rates etc all substantiate the above view. Women’s empowerment has hence become a prime thrust area of the organization since its inception. Regardless of the fact that women are becoming educated and taking up jobs to strengthen their economic position but they still continue to remain one of the most vulnerable communities in the Indian context. Her role in governance is still limited, she continues to get exploited in one form or the other. In order to bring a positive change in the attitude of people there is a need to bring change in the mindset of the common man. IYS has taken up various initiatives for obtaining the said objective. The various initiatives aim to give equal opportunities in all fields including education, health, and livelihood on the one hand and on the other hand create a positive atmosphere for them to grow and blossom. Some of the initiatives taken up by the organization include –
DEVELOPMENTAL WORK OF WOMEN THROUGH WSHG –
The organization strive to bring socioeconomic development to women. In order to achieve the said objective, it has gone into making SHGs of the women of the rural community and providing them training to start their own small businesses. Some of the initiatives include pesciculture, kitchen garden, weaving, etc. The weaver’s production is one of the most successful programmes of IYS. This helped to increase the socio-economic status of the women of marginalised groups. This has helped increase the socio-economic status of the women of marginalised groups. The women are now managing the business on their own.
- Family Counselling – Mahila Mandals have taken the task of protecting families from disintegration by providing them with timely counselling support. The trained members of these mandals take up the case and try to go for an amicable settlement of the issue. As many as 218 families have been given counselling support during the current program period. IYS has put in its whole-hearted efforts to ensure that, as far as possible, the families do not disintegrate. Mahila Mandals are working in the district of Khurda.
- Vocational training to women – In order to strengthen the economic position of women in the family, women have been provided training on various trades like weaving, tailoring. Incest stick making, etc. Raw materials are provided by the organization, along with making adequatearrangement of marketing the finished products. Currently, it is also conducting tailoring classes for 50 students of Khurda district at Nabinabap, where the central
office of the organization is set up. This is a 3-month initiative. The program is supported Municipality. - Training and Workshop – In order to enhance the conceptual clarity and practical knowledge of the time target groups the organization has organized various training programs and workshop from time to time to build their capacity on aspects like entrepreneurship development, developing self sustainable mechanisms to help the SHGS become independent to manage their own affairs etc. Besides this, many training programs have been organised on income generation programs, awareness on legalaspects, self-governance and leadership development to Mahila Mandals for improving their skills, knowledge and competence. Workshops on women’s conditions and the Violence faced by were successfully organized in 4 GP of Khurda District. The organisation has since its inception given high importance on forming women’s organization and developstheir leadership qualities to manage their groups and activities taken up by them efficiently.
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Micro credit and micro finance — The need and importance of micro credit has been increasing, especially in areas where people have less scope to get credit from other sources in banks, immediately at the time of need. The Significance of Credit and Microfinance basically lies in making available credit for Self-employment to the poorest section of society, especially women. IYS had started intervention among rural poor women and encouraged them to form SHG. The concept of SHG was introduced in 1999 by the Government of India with an intention to encourage the concept of Micro credit among the rural women communities. It was hoped that through the intervention measurable changes could be brought in the life of poor women especially those living in rural and remote parts of the Country. IYS has given priority to the formation of the Self help groups in the communities for which it works. The intervention has directly helped around 4 thousand families. 1YS has also successfully organized micro finance convention that was attended by representative’s form within and outside Orissa.