January - March 2012

AIWC Annual Meeting at Kolkata

1

ROSHNIJournal of the All India Women's Conference

JANUARY - MARCH 2012

AIWC has Consultative Status with -UNITED NATIONSPermanent Representatives Ms. Sudha AcharyaMs. Mala PalMs. Seema Upelekar

(ECOSOC) (UNICEF)AIWC has affiliation with -International Alliance of WomenPan Pacific and S.E.A. Women's AssociationCONGOGlobal Water PartnershipWorld Renewable Energy Network

AIWC has 500+ Branches and 1,00,000+ MembersPatrons : Dr Sarojini Varadappan

Ms Shobhana RanadeMs Kunti PaulDr Aparna BasuDr Manorama BawaMrs. Gomathi Nair

Office BearersPresident – Mrs. Bina JainSecretary General – Mrs. Sheela KakdeTreasurer – Mrs. Usha Nair

Editorial BoardAdvisor – Dr Aparna BasuEditor – Mrs. Veena KohliAssisted by – Ms Mythily Jagannathan

Ms Saroj ChabraMs Manju Prasher

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The views expressed in the articles published in Roshni are those of the authors only and not of All India Women's Conference.

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ROSHNI

Contents

From the Editor's Pen 2

Welcome Speech by Mrs. Bina Jain 3

84th Annual Conference 4

Presidents Address - 84th Annual Conference-Kolkata 5

International Women's Day 7

A Report on Birth Centenary Celebration of 8

Ashoka Gupta - Sheela Kakde

Sadhrana (Gurgaon) 9

Secretary General's Report - 84th Annual 10

Conference-Kolkata

In Praise of Volunteerism - Dr. Manju Kak 16

President : Vidyagauri Neelkanth 17

President : Sarla Roy 19

AIWC Reaches Rural Women 20

You can't ignore Rural Women 24

Newsletter 26

Report of my visit to New York - Mrs. Bina Jain 27

Workshop on Empowerment of Rural Women 29

- Mrs. Bina Jain

Innovative Approaches 30

United Nation Commission on the Status 34

of Women - Sheela Kakde

A Profile of Ashwini Shkirsagar 37

Book Release 38

Dr. Kadambini Ganguli : A Pioneer 39

Spring - Poem by Sarojini Naidu 42

In search of Happiness 43

Change your thinking 44

Adding life in our Textiles 45

World Consumer Day 47

Report on side event attended at 48

COP 17, Durban - Usha Nair

Branch Activities 51

vka[kksa dh ns[kHkky 57

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ROSHNI

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From the Editor's Pen

Dear Friends,

This issue is special not only because it starts the New Year with AIWC's Annual Conference meeting of all the

branches held at Kolkata but also the revival of its commitment towards empowerment of the rural women of

India. We all have our roots in the villages and as one goes back the ancestral count, one will discover some link

with a village; yet how much have we given back to these villages where we came from? Importantly, you will read

in this issue about AIWC's participation in the UN world meet on the status of rural women at New York-

represented by Mrs Bina Jain and her team which included Ashwini Shikirsagar, the village sarpanch

We have included in this issue, brief biographical profiles of the glorious ladies - the Late Smt Vidyagauri

Neelkanth, Smt Sarla Ray , our past presidents and Dr. Kadambini Ganguli, outlining their contributions and

inspiring life. I quote lines from Dr. Manju Kak's article on volunteerism,“ The women who created these

institutions also selflessly dedicated themselves to the cause of improving the lives of people in India's villages and

urban slums. So, let's not ignore a century's contribution by women who remain unsung and uncelebrated for

their service to the nation.”.

Once again we are proud to inform our members that the “Hero's Award” was given to our Patron Smt.

Shobhana Ranade at a function held in Mumbai. Our heartiest congratulations to her. We will give more details

in the next issue.

Namaskar and best wishes to all for the coming days.

Veena Kohli

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3

Sh.Shai lesh Kumar

Bandopadyay, our office

bearers Smt Sheela

Kakde, Hon.Secretary

General, Smt Usha Nair,

H o n T r e a s u r e r ,

Respected Patrons,

D i g n i t a r i e s , V i c e

Presidents, Members-in-

charge, Members and all

invitees.

Happy New Year to all of you.

I have great pleasure in welcoming you all today for

the Birth Centenary Celebrations of our beloved Smt

Ashoka Guptaji. Smt.Ashoka Gupta was born in

1912 and was educated at Bethune College

(Bethune College has special significance for AIWC

because, as early as in 1926, at a prize-giving

ceremony in Bethune College, Calcutta, the Director

of Public Instruction, Bengal, Mr E F Oaten, had

addressed women “who alone can help adequately

to remedy what is wrong in women's education,” and

this prompted Margaret Cousins to call for a

Conference of Women from all parts of the country,

and the rest as you all know is the history of AIWC).

Ashoka di became a member of AIWC in 1936 in

Dhaka, and from then on AIWC became a life long

commitment for her.

Ashoka Gupta has a long record of selfless social

work. She is known for her efforts in the aftermath of

Noakhali riots in 1946, when as a representative of

Welcome Speech by Mrs Bina Jain, President AIWC

A I W C , u n d e r t h e

guidance of Mahatma

Gandhi, she spent a

whole year in the remote

villages of the District to

r e s t o r e c o m m u n a l

harmony. During the

Famine of Bankura in

1943, Ashoka di

worked for Save the

Children Homes.

She was a strict disciplinarian and could never

tolerate inefficiency. I have had the good fortune of

working with her. During her term as President of

AIWC, Bapnu Ghar was reopened, and short stay

home and old age home at Vrindavan was started, I

was personally involved in the starting of the old age

home, where we had to face a lot of resistance from

the locals, but she was determined to open the

Home.

Ashoka Di was a campaigner for equal rights of

women. Ashoka Di was always interested in

promoting Youth. On the eve of independence she

was the member-in-charge of civil rights.

She was awarded the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj

Award for social work in Bengal and Hon.Doctorate

from Calcutta University.

Many of you have worked with Ashoka Di, and

waiting to share your memories on this occasion.

Therefore, I will end my speech here and thank you

all for hearing me patiently.

At Kolkata - January 2011

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Bhopal Jail inmates save up to adopt two girlsInmates of Bhopal Central jail have decided to adopt two baby girls. They are saving every rupee to build

a fund that will help them look after the children till they turn 18, Both children live in the jail premises.

Three year old Unaiza is the daughter of Arshi, a woman convicted for murder. Arshi has been in jail for the

last three years. Unaiza has just started going to a primary school in the jail premises. The father of the

other infant, yet to be named, is jail guard Deepak Joshi.

Hundred of prisoners , including hardened criminals, are saving some money from what they earn in jail

working as carpenters, cooks or tailors. The prisoners earn Rs. 27, Rs. 21 and Rs. 10 for skilled, semi

skilled and unskilled work in jail. They are also cutting down on their bidis and cigarettes to put aside

enough money to bring up the children. Jail guards too, are contributing to the kitty. The idea was floated

on 11/11/11. "It was a rare date and ours was a rare gesture. So we close that day," said Jail

Superintendent Lalji Mishra.

There are about 3,000 inmates in the Bhopal Jail. Of them at least 300 inmates have agreed to the

proposal.

(Times of India)

thThe 84 Annual Conference of All India Women's Conference, had a special significance, as we

celebrated the Birth Centenary of our past President Smt. Ashoka Gupta, and Kolkata was especially

chosen as the venue, as it was her home town.

Many people came from different places to pay their tribute in various forms, be it in their talk or in

melodious songs. The day ended with exchange of fond memories of our beloved Ashoka Gupta.

The Annual Conference of AIWC is such an event that all the Members attend the same with great

passion and commitment. This year we had attendance of about 320 participants from all over

the country, travelling by trains, braving the weather conditions.

Local handicrafts promoted by the branches were displayed at the entrance to the conference venue on

colourfully set up tables, which set the mood for the conference.

thThe Standing Committee Meeting which was held on 8 January was attended by all the participants in

full force and became a participatory discussion, and all the items on our Agenda was discussed and

debated. The time was flying but with so much interest no one realised the time. The evening was a

cultural treat for the gathering. Performance by some of the talented members was really commendable.

Special significance was the presence of the younger generation in the gathering, who were taking

particular interest in the event, which was a most welcome change.

- Bina Jain, President AIWC

th84 Annual Conference7th to 10th January 2012 - Kolkata

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Prof Bani Basu - Eminent Writer

Prof. Malabika Sarkar Hon. Vice Chancellor

Presidency University

Prof. Suranjan Das - Vice Chancellor, University of

Kolkata

Respected Patrons, Secretary General,

Hon.Treasurer, Vice Presidents, Members-in-

Charge, Members, Ms. Mamata Roy, Chairperson,

Reception Committee and all the invitees.

Happy New Year to all of you

It is a great honour for me to stand here and welcome

you all to this 84th Annual Conference being held in

the City of Joy - Kolkata, the beautiful city of Art,

Culture and Literature. It is the hometown of our

beloved Smt Ashoka Di, and today it brings back fond

memories of her.

2011 was a year of pride for AIWC as our patron Smt.

Shobhana Ranade was awarded the

Padmabhushan and Jamnalal Bajaj Award . On

behalf of AIWC family I congratulate Smt.

Shobhanaji.

When I took over, I had certain concerns in my mind

and I wanted to improve the quality of our

service. We took various measures in this

direction.

• Vice presidents and Zonal organisers are the

major link between branches and head office. It

was felt that if they communicate with branches

effectively, the success of programmes is going

to be certain. The orientation programme for

Vice Presidents and Zonal Organisers

conducted by the Head Office has proved very

successful, and the quality of reports has

improved with greater clarity on branch

President's Address

84th Annual Conference - Kolkata, January 2012

activities. The main branches as well as

constituent branches are more active and are

taking up new programmes directly. My

Congratulations to the zonal organisers.

• Zonal meetings are a very good channel for

putting across problems of branches and finding

out practical solutions. Guidelines for members-

in-charge and zonal heads were circulated at

the start of our term to ensure zonal meetings

are conducted in a systematic way, and to make

it more meaningful and fruitful to the branches,

as branches are the backbone of our

organisation.

• As Swami Vivekananda said “There is no

chance for the welfare of the world unless the

condition of women is improved." “Economic

empowerment of women” was another concern.

Unless a woman is economically empowered,

she cannot get self confidence. In this regard we

have initiated various programmes. It is

heartening to note that AIWC members from

Kashmir to Kanyakumari are active in various

fields, in improving the living standards of

underprivileged women from urban and rural

areas, and making their life more meaningful.

• Keeping in mind the changing needs of the time,

“Retail Training” programmes are being

conducted by our members. It has opened new

avenues of employment for young adults. We

are happy to note that many of them are

successful in getting jobs in the Retail Sector.

On this platform we will share the good work being

done by various branches in different States, and

also to see how we can replicate the success stories

all over India.

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I have met many of the members in your Regions

during the Zonal Conferences, in Junagad - Gujarat,

Indore, Hyderabad, Kandi, Pathankot, Mysore, Puri -

Orissa and Mumbai,

It was a good opportunity to interact with a large

number of members mainly from the constituent

branches, and to build a strong relationship with the

branches. The impact of these conferences was

excellent. The branches have been able to increase

the number of members, especially the younger

generation, who are impressed by the work done by

AIWC. We have been able to achieve all this by the

collective effort and participation of all the members.

The Convocation of the Community College was

held coinciding with Smt. Laxmi Menon Memorial

Lecture on 30th November, 2011. It would be our

tribute to Mrs. Laxmi Menon if we fix this date as the

Convocation day of AIWC Community Colleges.

This year as President, AIWC I attended various

Meetings of the Complaint Committee on Sexual

Harassment of Women, with various Ministries.

I also attended the working Group on Women's

Agency and Empowerment for the 12th Five Year

Plan, by the Ministry of Women & Child

Development.

New Programmes:

India is a country of villages. We need to bring the

rural population to the mainstream by providing

educational facilities in the villages, especially

technical skills to the rural population, The progress

of country is possible if we succeed in developing

the villages and make them self sustaining to

prevent migration of people from rural to urban

areas in search of employment.

Our branches should extend their programmes to

Rural areas in education, health, hygiene, water and

sanitation.

There is a change in our society, the elderly who are

at the peak of their Golden Age, are missing their

family life, most of the time they are forced to lead a

lonely life. We have to bring back our culture,

wherein the aged are not considered a liability but an

asset. I have a Vision of a “self contained Family

Nest”. The Family Nest will focus on the most

important segment of society - senior citizens,

children from weaker sections, and single working

women who have no secure place to live. We are

working on this. This concept may be adopted by

any Branch who have space available and we can

send them the Project module.

It is noted that blindness among children is

increasing in India. We can prevent blindness

among children if the visual impairment is detected at

an early stage. We will be starting this programme

very soon. Branches should take up this programme

in a big way.

AIWC has a rich heritage and history. We have

invaluable documents, books and photographs in

our Library. These are a valuable source of

information for Research Scholars and students not

only in India but all over the world. We are taking

various measures to preserve the legacy and

upgrade the Library.

Corruption in our Society has reached huge

proportions and affecting our life. We as NGOs and

women working for the betterment of society should

work towards inculcating value system amongst

younger generation.

We are ready with the module for Leadership

Training Programme for women, and will be rolling

out the same soon.

Sexual Harassment Committee has been formed in

AIWC which is mandatory.

The percentage of educated people in our country is

increasing, women are getting empowered, but still

ROSHNI

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the violence and crime against women is increasing

day by day all over the country. I want our branches

to go deeper into the reasons for the same and to see

how we can bring about a safer society for our

women.

Among the 4 Trusts formed, the Health Trust has

started its activities, the other two Trusts for old age

and education will start their activities very soon.

Ritu Gujarati, one of our young members from

Chopada, Gujarat attended the Conference by Pan

Pacific South East Asia Women's Association, held

at Taiwan. This year a team of 4 people from AIWC

Participated in the COP17 Meeting along with

INFORSE at Durban.

2012 will be declared as the “Year of Sustainable

Energy for All” by UN, and we will try to partner with

them in many of the programmes.

Last but not the least, I am grateful to the Kolkatta

Branch for hosting the Annual Conference, and for

the excellent arrangements made for the same.

The celebration of International Womens Day, 2012

took place in Margaret Cousins Library, AIWC on

12th March. The library presented a festive

welcoming look with decorations of flowers and

rangoli. President Ms. Bina Jain presided over the

occasion, in which the Chief Guest was Ms

Madhubala Nath, Regional Policy Advisor, UN

Women South Asia. Dr. Aparna Basu, Patron, AIWC

introduced the Chief Guest who held an important

portfolio in the UN and had written on the subject of

womens empowerment. Ms. Nath in her informative

address spoke of the five-pointed strategy of the UN

for promoting womens empowerment, these were:

Literacy, economic empowerment, political

empowerment, preventing gender violence and

support to women in war situations. The United

Nations Objective was to inform and motivate all

governments to implement policies for overall

improvement in the status of women. She was glad

to inform the gathering of many achievements of

India in empowering women through various

strategies and praised the role of AIWC in providing

leadership at a national level for over 8 decades.In

her remarks, president Ms Bina Jain, gave a brief

account of the recently concluded UN meet on

consultative status for women. AIWC had

participated in the meeting and also organized a

workshop on rural womens empowerment. The

paper presented by AIWC at the international

gathering of NGO’s was Empowering Rural Women

South Asia. The NGO experience was greatly

appreciated. A documentary film on AIWC activities

for rural women in Haryana and West Bengal shown

at the UN was shown and appreciated by the

audience. Special invitees were two ladies from

Sadhrana, AIWC’s adopted village, Ms Kiran and Ms

Sunita. They spoke of their experiences in motivating

village women to form SHGs and take up income

generating work. In the subsequent discussion, Ms

Kalpakam Yechury and Ms Kalyani Raj described the

early struggles by AIWC to convince village folk in

Sadhrana to allow women to come out of purdah. In

her concluding remarks and vote of thanks, Ms

Sheela Kakde, Secretary, spoke about the status of

women in different countries as revealed at the

recent UN meeting, and touched upon some

advantages and gains that had come to Indian

women in social polit ical and economic

empowerment, as well as the targets to be achieved.

- Mythily Jagannathan

International Womens Day Celebration in Delhi- 12th March 2012

8

A Report on Birth Centenary Celebrations

of AIWC Patron Ashoka Gupta

The 84th Annual Conference of All India Women`s

Conference was held in Kolkata from 7th to 10th

January 2012. It was organized at Udayachal

Tourist Lodge Auditorium, DG Block, Sector-II, Salt

Lake City, Kolkata – 700 091. Being the Birth

Centenary year of our Patron Late Smt. Ashoka

Gupta , AIWC thought it right to pay tributes to her on

7th January 2012.

AIWC President Smt. Bina Jain, the AIWC Patrons

Dr. Sarojini Varadappan, Smt. Shobhana Ranade

(representing Khadi Gramodyog), Smt. Kunti Paul,

Dr. Aparna Basu Dr. Manorama Bawa ,Smt. Gomathi

Nair, Smt. Rekha Modi from Stree Shakti, Smt.

Hashna Saha representd Bharat Scouts, and

Guides, West Bengal, Smt. Yasmin Sengupta from

Mahila Samiti, Smt. Dipali Sarkar from Buniyadi

Bidyapith, Mr. A.K.Roy from SOS Children's village,

Smt.Chandreyee Alam Lawyer & Social Worker,

Smt. Sheela Kakde, Secretary General, AIWC,

Treasurer Smt. Usha Nair, AIWC graced the

occasion with their presence. Three hundred and

fifty delegates from various parts of the country as

well as Presidents, Secretaries & members of all the

branches of Kolkata participated too.

The welcome address was delivered by Smt. Bina

Jain, President, AIWC New Delhi. She paid her

tribute with a wonderful speech where she

mentioned that she had the honour of working with

Asoka Gupta in a close proximity and came to admire

the qualities of the illustrious person, who fought

boldly to set up an old age home Vrindavan.

The 'lighting of lamp' was done by the Chief Guest,

Padmabhushan Shri Sailesh Bandopadhyay, the

well known writer of 40 books translated in different

languages. He is the recipient of the Bapu award too.

He also paid a floral tribute to Smt. Ashoka Gupta.

Members of AIWC branches felicitated president of

AIWC Delhi Smt. Bina Jain, the Chief Guest Shri

Sailesh Bandopadhyay, and all the honoured

Patrons. The special issue of 'Roshni' an illustrious

magazine, dedicated to the memory of Smt. Ashoka

Gupta was released.

Everyone, who spoke on that occasion, expressed a

feeling of respect, reverence, admiration for her.

Each speech focused on how she was held in high

esteem elicited by her qualities & achievements. All

the Patrons highlighted the great qualities &

achievements of Ashoka Gupta.

Smt. Hashna Saha, who represented Smt. Sandhya

Guha Roy, read out a letter written by Smt. Sandhya

Guha Roy. It enlightened us about the strong

characteristics of Ashoka Gupta's personality. Smt.

Kumkum read out a poem in memory of Ashoka

Gupta.

Smt. Ranade spoke of her personal relation with

Ashoka Gupta .

Smt. Yasmin Sengupta said she had empathy,

compassion and child like enthusiasm. She worked

in close proximity with Gandhiji at Noakhali for social

justice when the whole place was in the group of a

riot. She was a trustee of Kasturba trust & working

with her was a roller coaster ride. Post 1947, she

had formed a samiti which worked for child welfare,

education, and training for occupational therapy with

unflinching dedication. The samiti has evolved over

the years.

Smt. Dipali Sarkar from 'Buniyadi Bidyapith' said it

was founded under Ashoka Gupta's direction in 1953

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9

This sleepy village, about 20 km. from the madding crowd of Gurgaon city, came alive today with the

arrival of former actress, Ms. Sharmila Tagore, and a host of office-bearers of the All India Women's

Conference (AIWC).

They launched a number of welfare schemes in the village such as a sewing center, welfare projects for

youths, schemes for rain-water harvesting, herbal cultivation and renewable energy all for the purpose of

women empowerment and fostering gender equity. All these centres and projects were under the theme

of 'integrated development' of the village.

The AIWC, a voluntary organization, having about 500 branches in the country with three of them in

Haryana, has its Head-quarter in Delhi.

Infact, the launching of the centres and projects was part of the celebrations of Platinum Jubilee year of

the AIWC.

The President of the AIWC, Dr. Aparna Basu told the 'NCR Tribune' that this village was chosen in

Gurgaon district after a survey. The scale was tipped in its favour as it had a woman sarpanch.

The AIWC has branches in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Rewari districts in Haryana. Efforts would be made

to launch women-related projects at all its branches, Dr. Basu said.

She said the AIWC would appoint teachers for running and managing the centres launched today.

The president of the Gurgaon branch, Mrs. Asha Sharma, said that the women of the village have pledged

to play a greater role in society. A number of them have shown keenness to be part of the adult literacy

project being launched by the AIWC.

What, however, pulled the heartstrings of women at the function was the views expressed by Ms.

Sharmila Tagore. She said that Parliament and social organizations must play an active role in

empowering the women who are the backbone of any society. The world will also be a better place if

women are given a pride of place, she added.

This village was part of the royal estate. No wonder, the members of Sharmila's family, Tiger Pataudi et al,

hold charm and inspire awe among the residents of the nearby villages.

- Clipping from NCR Tribune News Service, March 5, 2003

Sadhrana (Gurgaon), March 5, 2003

with 25 children. She worked with the children of

slum and industrial workers. When Dipali Sarkar

joined as the headmistress of the school in 1967, she

had the good fortune to know her better.

Mr. A.K. Roy spoke on behalf of SOS children's

village. Ashoka Gupta was the President of SOS

village. She was fond of dance and music so

introduced it for the children of SOS village. He sang

two songs which was appreciated by all the

members and guests who were present in the tribute

ceremony.

Smt. Chandreyee Alam told that she has some

family relation with Ashoka Gupta. She spoke about

her personal relationship with Smt. Asoka Gupta.

She said, in spite of losing her son, Smt. Ashoka

Gupta dedicated her life for the upliftment of the poor

and needy. She rose above party politics, instilled

confidence in women and strove for women

empowerment and enlightenment.

While concluding the programme with the vote of

thanks the Secretary General Smt. Sheela Kakde

paid her tributes also.

--Sheela Kakde, Secretary General, AIWC

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10

Secretary General’s Annual Report for the

84th Annual Conference of AIWC

at Kolkata, 7th to 10th January2012.

NAMASKAR!

Honourable Patrons, Respected President , Dear Vice Presidents and Treasurer, Members in Charge, Zonal

organizers, Standing committee members and delegates, I extend hearty welcome for the 84th Annual

Conference of AIWC at Kolkata, and wish each one of you a very Happy, Healthy, Peaceful & Prosperous

2012.

I feel happy to remember the glorious past of our great organization during the centenary year of our beloved

patron, late Ashoka Gupta. Let us pay our respects to the memory of this great soul with her yeoman services

to the cause of women and children and their development .We should not let this glory and standards

achieved by our predecessors slip out of our hands. We as custodians of this great tradition have to nurture

and pass this on to younger members.

It is my privilege to stand before you and give you an account of our performance in the first year of our tenure.

We all very well know that 500 and odd branches that we have, throughout the country constitute the bony

system of AIWC, and to keep it functioning well we arranged an orientation programme for the nine Zonal

organizers and five Vice Presidents on 10th -11th of March 2011.Guidelines were given to them for

strengthening the branches and conduct zonal meetings. It was very well received and the result is promising.

Zonal Organizers have travelled to branches and have collected

the data about the branches, have given the details about the

functioning. Still this work requires some more time to put it before

you. Zonal organizers are requested to translate the circulars in the

local language so that it becomes easier to understand and take up

the various one day awareness programs, and big programs of

Anemia free society, adolescent program, Literacy and skill

learning, Socio-economic program.

At Head Office -

Important Events –

Four Trusts-- 1.Trust for the Property, 2.Trust for Health,

3.Trust for Senior Citizens, 4.Trust for Education were

registered with AIWC President, Mrs. Bina Jain as the Settler

on 2nd February, 2011.

Felicitation of Patron Padmabhushan Smt. Shobhana Ranade

was done on receiving the award in the presence of members.

- Sheela Kakde, Secretary General, AIWC.

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11

Six days training for retailers was held in collaboration with Bharti Walmart at the Head Office in August.

10 members from Gurgaon. Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Peth-Nasik, Chopada took the training. Four

training programs are conducted, 1 in Gurgaon, 2 in Mumbai and 1 in Peth-Nasik. Eighty five children have

taken the training. 4 have been absorbed in the retail industry. All participants will be given certificates.

Important days like Sarojini Naidu`s Birthday, International Women`s Day, World Health Day, International

Women`s Day, International Anti Terrorist Day, Laxmi Menon`s birthday were observed. Laxmi Menon

Memorial lecture on “Challenges in Literacy of Women” was arranged on the convocation ceremony of

Community College; Prof. Shyam B. Menon was the Chief Guest.

At Head Office we celebrated Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore`s 150 Birth Anniversary on 24th May 11 and

on 14th Sept. Panel discussion on “Gender Issues in Tagore`s work” was held on 14th Sept. This program

was sponsored by Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of India and was very well appreciated.

Orientation program, Farewell party, first Convocation ceremony for the Community College students were

held with eminent speakers like Dr. C. K. Ghosh Director IGNOU, Prof. Shyam B. Menon. Principal of the

Community College Dr. Vatts has given all the details in her report.

Various awareness programs like Violence Against Women, Ill effects of Tobacco, Food safety and

adulteration, legal awareness on Section 498 A for counselors were held at the Head Office.

Two medical camps of Bone Density and Thyroid estimation and Anemia detection and treatment were

conducted at the Head Office premises.

National Foundation for Communal Harmony, Ministry of Home Affairs had sanctioned Four programs on

Communal Harmony. Three programs are successfully conducted, by the Bhopal branch, in Madhya

Pradesh, by Bruhad Surat branch in Gujarat, by Malegaon branch, in Maharashtra. Hyderabad branch in

Andhra Pradesh will do this program in January, 2012.

You can get the glimpses of all the above mentioned activities on slide show.

Permanent Departmental Activities—

1. Estate &Aga khan Hall –

a) The second shaft of Sarojini House is repaired.

b) External backside of Sarojini House painted.

c) Renovation of the Administrative Block in KD Hostel is done

d) Third toilet at the Trustee House is done

e) Entrance of Bapnu Ghar is redone and repairs internally done.

f) Old Air-conditioning plant in the basement is renovated and hall is used by Community College.

g) 3rd floor toilets of Sarojini House are redone.

Aga Khan Hall—Both the Exhibition halls are rented throughout the year and are very popular for exhibitions.

2. Hostel & Mess- In the campus we have Sarojini House, K.D. Hostel and L.M. Hostel which provides

accommodation for 250 working women and trainees. Double rooms, Single rooms and dormitory and

guest rooms are available. AIWC members on recommendation from their branch can avail this facility.

ROSHNI

12

a) New Mess Manager Ms. Gayatri Sharma is appointed.

b) New Wardens Ms. Nirupama Raghav for KD & LM Hostel and Ms.Anjali Karmarka for Sarojini Hostel

are appointed.

c) Dining Hall of the Mess is renovated.

There are about 24 Working women`s Hostels run by AIWC branches.

Mrs. Asha Gambhir`s report gives the details.

3. Bapnu Ghar - in Head Office campus, is a shelter for women in distress.

It houses 30 women and children. There are 3 programs going on simultaneously like Short Stay Home,

Family Counseling Center and 24 Hour Helpline. The women are given vocational training to be self

supportive. Mrs. Kuljit Kaur has reported extensively.

Short Stay Homes--There are about 20 Short Stay Homes run by our branches.

4. Roshni- Mrs. Veena Kohli is taking care of this in house quarterly magazine very meticulously. A special

issue on our beloved Patron Ashoka Gupta is released in the centenary year. You can get membership by

paying Rs. 200/-, along with the membership form duly filled.

5. MCM Library- Margaret Cousins Memorial Library houses nearly 10,000 books and 40 periodicals.

Researchers, professionals and academicians come for consultations. Now the archival restoration of

the important documents is going on.

6. Senior Citizen`s Home- AIWC runs a old age home at Vrindavan which houses 32 old women above the

age of 65 years and 25 women and children in Short Stay Home at Tarash Mandir. The renovation work at

the home is nearly complete and women at Infirmary will be shifted soon.

7. Rithala Project- Vocational training classes are run for Computer Training and Beauty Culture at Rithala,

sponsored by NDPL.

8. Mobile Helpline- Delhi Commission for Women has given us the project of 24 hours Mobile Helpline

since 2010 and has extended up to 2012.

9. Energy Dept.- Four Solar Fairs were arranged by the Energy department, sponsored by MNRE. Repair

of Solar equipments was taught to the participants. Member in Charge Mrs. Lalita Balakrishnan`s report

gives the details.

10. Community College- IGNOU certified Community College is being run in the basement area of Sarojini

House . It offers degree and certificate courses in Computer training, certificate and diploma in Textile

printing,, Beauty Culture, Ayurvedic Massage and Panch Karma, and spoken English.

11. AIWC supports 151 crèches run by the 40 branches by funding Re.1/- per child for food. This year, we

added following branches-- 1. Samaksha Community Center for Family Health (6), 2. AIWC Mysore Zone

branch (6), 3.AIWC Central Kolkata Constituency (2), 4.Mobile Creche, Pune Mahila Mandal (1), 5. AIWC

South Kerala branch, Alappuzha (15) are added. 3775 Children are the beneficiaries.

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13

Meetings -

International meetings - 1. Pan Pacific South East Asia Women`s Association meeting at Taiwan was

attended by Miss Ritu Gujrathi from Chopada, Maharashtra.

2. COP-17 on Climate Change at Durban was attended by Hon. Treasurer Smt. Usha Nair, Smt. Shantha

Das, Smt. Kalpakam Yechury, Smt. Suman Saxena.

Zonal Meetings--

Throughout the year following zonal meetings were arranged by the branches which gave opportunity to the

office bearers to meet the members of the constituent branches –

No. Date Zone Zonal Organiser Venue Host Branch

1. 13.3.11 Western zone B Dr. Tripti Vyas Girnar Junagarh, Gujarat

2. 20.4.11 Central zone A Neeru Jain Meerut Meerut, U.P.

3. 7. 8.11 Central zone B Geeta Tiwari Indore Indore, M.P.

4. 10.9.11 North zone Asha Sharma Kandi Kandi Pathankot

5. 20 .9.11 South zone A Rehana Begum Hyderabad Hyderabad A.P.

6. 3.10.11 South zone B Gouri Adiyodi Mysore Mysore, Karnataka

7. 18.11.11 Eastern zone Shikha Mitra Puri Puri, Orissa

8. 07.12.11 Western zone A Rekha Sali Mumbai Vile Parle, Mumbai

S.No.

Programmes

Beneficiaries

1.

General Health Awareness

1165

2.

Legal Awareness

1083

3.

Consumer Awareness

305

4.

Save the Girl & Female Feticide

290

5.

Disaster Mgt.

325

6.

Waste , Water & Sanitation

100

7.

Rural Development

85

8. Health Camps ( Anemia, Thyroid, Dental, Cancer 2384

14

ROSHNI

At Branches -

In the year 2011 we have sanctioned 137 one day awareness programs that were applied for, out of that 82

programs have been completed and reports received and money released. 23 programmes are sanctioned in

November-December, hence the report is awaited. 32 sanctioned programs are not done even after the

sanction is given. On the next page the pie chart gives you an idea as to number of programs done in each

category. We have started giving programmes to constituent branches directly as it is found that some of the

constituent branches are doing extremely well.

The statistical data for big programs is as follows -

Project No.of Programs No. of beneficiaries Remarks

1. Anemia Project 89 9196 4444 found anemic 949 cured

2. Adolescents prog. 21 449

3. Integrated Literacy 21 Women 647 Skill chosen—

& Skill Development Prog. Children 527 Bag making, beautician

Artificial jewelery, soft toys

Cutting tailoring, embroidery,

Wood craft, tussar silk

reeling

4. Bidi workers 4 67 Program conducted 2.

5. Socio Economic 2 Sanctioned to - 1. Samyukta

2.Priyadarshani Mahila

Mandali

6. Adopted Villages

At this point I would like to congratulate the following branches for doing commendable work.

Heartiest Congratulations

Maximum awareness programs done by the following branches:- .

1. South West East Delhi Women`s Association. (7 programs)

2. AIWC, East Kolkata Constituency (4)

3. Samyukta and its constituent branches & AIWC Trivandrum branch

(3 each) ----------------------

4. East Kolkata Constituency branch has done 2 Bidi workers programs this year.

Exclusive Efforts

1. AIWC Jogeshwari constituent branch Mumbai (Cancer detection)

Chart Showing Total Number of Beneficiaries in The Year 2011.

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15

2. AIWC South West Calcutta Constituency. ( Nari Siksha Sadan) - Breast cancer

3. Akhil Hind Mahila Parishad ,Vile Parle branch, Mumbai ( Skin Donation after Death)

4. AIWC Junagadh Branch (Rubella vaccine)

5. AIWC Calicut Chapter ( Cancer among Women)

6. Mahila Mandal- Malad (Cancer among women and hightech care)

7. Chamtagara Adibasi Mahila Samiti ( Rain Water Harvesting)

8. Stree Shakti Mahila Samajam, Trivandrum distt. ( Lifestyle Diseases)

Great Implementation

1. Bhopal branch—Program on Communal Harmony was very well done and reported covering all the

aspects given in the guidelines

2. AIWC, East Kolkata Constituency branch - has done Anemia program with 3 review camps done as per

guidelines and reported.

3. AIWC Agra branch –has done program on Environment with school children

I am sure this will inspire many more branches to take up the programs.

I have included all the reports received till 20th December 2011, though the deadline given was up to 5th

December. You may find the highlights of the reports in the annexures; the main report can be obtained from

the MCM library.

AIWC Shares the Grief

1. Earthquake victims of North Eastern region are given help in kind worth Rs. 25,000/- through Darjeeling

branch.

2. Family members of riot victims of Amarnath Yatra Samiti are given help worth Rs. 20,000/- through

Jammu branch.

For the past one year our team has been putting on best efforts to professionalize the work on the basis of

transparency and accountability. It is true that women in our country are still deprived, discriminated and

depressed section of our society.

AIWC`s main aim of uplifting women from poverty and empowering them to attend their rightful place in

society is yet to be achieved. There is long way to go and many challenges ahead.

But AIWC has great potentials; it has necessary resources, both human and financial. We have to match and

channelize them properly. We should be able to launch some constructive, innovative, sustainable

development oriented programs for women, which our branches can implement, with Zonal Organizers

playing the crucial role of coordinating the activities. I am sure you all will cooperate.

Let me take this opportunity to put on record my appreciation and thanks to our President, Mrs. Bina Jain, who

has not spared any efforts in providing leadership to all of us; to all our Patrons for their whole hearted support

and timely advice and guidance; to our treasurer, Mrs. Usha Nair for putting efforts to maintain transparency in

the accounts section; to Vice Presidents, to members in charge, zonal organizers, Presidents and

Secretaries of our branches, to our office staff and to all of you ,who have come from far-away places to

express your active support to our team. THANK YOU ALL.

ROSHNI

16

The standing committee of the All-India Women's

Conference will meet in Kolkata to celebrate its 84th

year on January 8, and this is quite a feat in longevity

and service. With over 500 branches and

consultative status with the UN's Economic and

Social Council, as well as a steadily growing mem-

bership of over 100,000, the conference is the oldest

such organisation in the country.

However, with more professionally-run and donor-

funded NGOs taking the limelight, be it in tribal rights,

AIDS awareness or taking care of the elderly, the

question often mooted is: are such organisations still

relevant? Do models based on volunteerism — be it

mobile creches or the Indian Council for Child

Welfare — still work? These organisations were built

by women who gladly gave their time after fulfilling

duties as homemakers; now professionals with

degrees from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences,

the School of Oriental and African Studies, Johns

Hopkins, etc, who churn out spreadsheets and flow

charts with the databases of funding agencies on

their BlackBerrys and iPhones, hold sway.

But be it Florence Nightingale or Mother Teresa,

these so-called "underqualified" women propelled by

a "vocation" have left a great impact on our life and

times. Women like Ashoka Gupta, Kamaladevi

Chattop-adhyaya, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur,

Rameshwari Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Lakshmi Menon

and its current crop of Padma Bhushan, Sarojini

Varadappan and Shobana Ranade, have built the

AIWC.

The AIWC's founder, an Englishwoman named

Margaret Cousins, was another such woman who

answered a call to organise women's emancipation

in January 1927 in what was then called Poona.

Their mission was to impart education and free

thought to prepare them, as it were, for the bugle call

of the nation's freedom struggle. Bina Jain, herself a

grassroots worker and the AIWC's current president

argued that both tradition and volunteerism do have

a place even in the India of today. While younger

donor-driven organisations can flourish, the AIWC

has longevity — a clinching argument when applied

In praise of volunteerism, both old and new

to current personality-driven NGOs with not-so-long

histories.

In keeping with today's needs, the AIWC has

taken an important new initiative to train women

in retail, to develop a community college for the

underprivileged, and to propagate renewable

and solar energy, in addition to managing its

early mandate of working women's hostels,

widows' homes, lepers' homes and even

computer literacy courses.

The National Commission for Women was also

established in 1992 as a statutory body, due to

the persistence and struggles of women's

organisations, just as in the past the AIWC

played a significant legislative role in ensuring

the provision of universal adult franchise as well

as the passage of the Child Marriage Restraint

Act 1929, popularly known as the Sarda Act, the

Hindu Code Bill (1955-56), the Devdasi

Protection Act (1934), the Factory and Mines Act

(1948/1987), Maternity Benefits Act (1961), and

the like. It pioneered educational institutions in

1932 (AIWEFA), led to the establishment of Lady

Irwin College, India's first college of home

sciences for women; the Family Planning Centre,

established in 1937, which is now the Family

Planning Association of India; Save the Children

Committee, established in 1943, now the Indian

Council for Child Welfare; and the Cancer

Research Institute, established in 1952, now the

Cancer Institute, Chennai.

The women who created these institutions also self-

lessly dedicated themselves to the cause of

improving the lives of people in India's villages and

urban slums. So while we celebrate the "career

social worker", let's not ignore a century's

contribution by women who remain unsung and

uncelebrated for their service to the nation.

(Manju Kak is an author, women's activist and

cultural historian)

Courtsey : Asian Age, 6th Jan 2012

- Dr. Manju Kak, Member-in-charge, Media AIWC

ROSHNI

17

Vidyagauri and her sister Sharda were the first two

women graduates of Gujarat. At a time when girls

hardly went to school, these two sisters continued

their education after marriage, matriculated, went to

a co-education college and graduated in 1901.

Vidyagauri was born on 1st June 1876 in

Ahmedabad in the haveli of her maternal

grandfather, Bholanth Sarabhai Divetia who was an

eminent religious and social reformer and one of the

founders of the Gujarat Prarthna Samaj in

Ahmedabad. He had five sons and two daughters.

Vidyagauri was the daughter of Balaben, the

younger daughter. Bholanath named her Vidyagauri

after one of his heroes, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar.

Bholanath was interested both in social and religious

reforms and held that one of the chief means

whereby women could be emancipated was

education.

While Vidyagauri was still in school, she was married

at the age of thirteen to Ramanbhai, son of the

social reformer and educationist Mahipatram

Rupram Neelkanth, one of the founders of the

Prarthana Samaj in Gujarat and the first Nagar

Brahmin to go to England to study. This was

President Vidyagauri Neelkanth (1876-1958)- Dr. Aparna Basu

extremely fortunate for had she been married into an

orthodox family, she could not have continued her

education. It was Ramanbhai's support which made

it possible for Vidyagauri to appear for her

Matriculation examination and then go on to college.

She then joined Gujarat College and graduated in

1901, topping the list of successful candidates in

Philosophy of the Bombay University.

In 1902, when the Indian National Congress held its

annual session in Ahmedabad, Vidyagauri and

Sharda sang Vande Mataram from the dais which

was quite a bold act as in those days, women from

respectable families did not sing in public.

Vidyagauri was a signatory to the Memorandum

submitted in 1917 by Margaret Cousins, Sarojini

Naidu and other leading members of the Women's

Indian Association to the Secretary of State for India,

Lord Montague, asking for votes for women.

She was Secretary, Vice-President or President of

numerous philanthropic, educational, literary and

women's organizations such as the Mahipatram

Rupram Anathashram (orphanage), Gujarat

Vernacular Society (now called the Gujarat Vidya

Sabha), the Prarthana Samaj, Victoria Jubilee

Hospital, Divalibai Girls' School, Ranchhodlal

Chhotalal Girls' School, Maganbhai Karamchand

Girls' School, Social Reform Association and Gujarat

Sahitya Sabha.. She was the first woman to be

nominated to the Ahmedabad Municipal Council and

was Vice President of the Municipality and Chairman

of the Municipal School Board. She did not aspire for

any position, honour or power but did all this social

work out of a genuine concern for the poor, the

underprivileged and the children oppressed.

Throughout her life of 82 years, she worked for the

welfare of women and children of Gujarat.

When in 1936, the Diamond Jubilee of her birth was

being celebrated in Ahmedabad, Mahatma Gandhi in

ROSHNI

18

a message said, “No celebration is enough for

Vidyaben because she is an ornament of Indian

womanhood. The more we can honour her, the

better. She is an ardent social reformer but at the

same time maintains our traditions.”

Vidyagauri started the Gujarat Branch of the All India

Women's Conference of which she was President for

many years. She was elected national President of

the All India Women's Conference and presided over

its Lucknow session held in 1933. In her Presidential

address she said that the “the first and foremost work

that is to be taken into hands is the removal of

illiteracy. Unless and until this is done, efforts in other

directions of progress are bound to fail.. the avowed

object of our Conference is educational and social

reform.” She wanted government to introduce

compulsory primary education and suggested that

there should be more vocational schools to provide

employment and a greater variety of subjects in our

universities, such as fine arts, music and painting,

domestic science, etc. so that girls would have a

wider choice. She also emphasized the importance

of social reform. Early marriage, dowry, prohibition of

widow remarriage, polygamy, divorce laws all these

needed urgent reform and “women should leave no

stone unturned to attain the goal”. She spoke of the

need to reform the existing Hindu law of inheritance.

She said that it was no use meeting every year,

passing resolutions and then sleeping over them. It

was important that branches should try to implement

the plans and programmes chalked out throughout

the year. "Earnest endeavours for imparting

education, educating public opinion, agitating for

improvement in legislatures…are needed."

Vidyagauri was deeply committed to the cause of

women's education. She started adult education

classes for women. She was one of the founders of

the Gujarat Stree Kelavni Mandal to promote higher

education among women. It took over the

Lalshankar Umiashankar Mahila Pathshala, a girls'

college affiliated to Karve University, later known as

SNDT University. She taught in this college in

various capacities.

Apart from her work for social reform and education,

Vidyagauri was also a writer. She frequently

contributed articles to various Gujarati women's

magazines. She, together with her sister, Shardaben

Mehta, translated R.C.Dutt's The Lake of Palms into

Gujarati. She collaborated with her husband in

editing a journal, Gyan Sudha and also in writing

several books. She presided over the Gujarat

Sahitya Parishad in 1943, the first woman to do so.

She was very keen on establishing libraries all over

Gujarat. .

In 1939 the Indian National Congress, under the

Chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru set up a National

Planning Committee with Rani Laxmibai Rajwade as

President of the women's sub-committee to

formulate a women's plan. Lady Neelkanth was a

member of this sub-committee which submitted a

very radical and forward looking plan for improving

the status of women.

Vidyagauri Neelkanth devoted her whole life to the

women's cause. Girls who wanted to marry outside

their caste or not marry men chosen by their parents,

widows who wanted to re-marry, women whose

husbands or in-laws ill-treated them all came to her

for help and advice. She was active in the AIWC in its

fight to get the Sharda Bill,(raising the age of consent

of marriage), passed and was equally vocal in her

support for the Hindu Code Bill.

A devoted wife, a loving mother, a social reformer, an

educationist, writer and a woman of remarkable

intelligence, kindness, integrity and simplicity,

Vidyagauri Neelkanth was a role model for hundreds

of girls in twentieth century Gujarat and an illustrious

President of the All India Women's Conference.

- Dr. Aparna Basu

Palron, AIWC (grand daughter of President AIWC,

Vidyagauri Neelkanth)

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19

Sarala Roy (1861-1946) President, AIWC 1932

Sarala Roy was the eldest daughter of

the renowned Brahmo reformer,

Durgamohan Das and sister of

S.R.Das and Abala Bose (wife of the

famous scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra

Bose). She was a cousin of

Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das and

Sudhir Chandra Das (Chief Justice of

India). She belonged to the famous

Das family of Telirbagh, Dhaka, now in

Bangladesh. At the age of 18 she

married Dr. P.K.Roy of the Indian

Education Service who became the

first Indian Principal of Presidency College, Kolkata.

Their daughter, Charulata was married to Satish

Chandra Mukherji,ICS. Their children were Renuka

Ray, Member of Lok Sabha and Minister of Refugee

and Rehabilitation in Dr. B.C.Roy's cabinet in West

Bengal, Air Marshal Subroto Mukherji, Prashanta

Mukherji, General Manager of Bengal Nagpur

Railway and Nita Sen.

Sarala Ray was among the early students of Banga

Mahila Vidyalaya and Bethune School, the first girls'

school founded by John Drinkwater Bethune, Law

Member in Lord Dalhousie's Council, in 1849 in

Kolkata. She devoted her life to women's education.

She established a girls' school in Dhaka when her

husband was posted there. After their return to

Kolkata, she was a member of Sakhi Samiti, the first

women's association in India, established by

Swarnakumari Devi, sister of Rabindranath Tagore.

She inspired women from Bhadralok Families to take

part in dance dramas. Tagore's dance drama, Mayar

Khela was dedicated to her and it was first performed

at Bethune School.

She was very generous in her hospitality and the

drawing room of Dr. and Mrs. P.K.Roy was the

meeting place of the then leaders of political thought

and social reform, as well as of foreign scholars,

scientists, diplomats and heads of religious orders.

Mrs. Roy lived in London for some years when her

husband was posted in there as Education Advisor

to Indian students. It was during these years that she

started the Indian Women's Association with the

purpose of providing scholarships for the training of

Indian women teachers in the UK. She

met Gopal Krishna Gokhale in London

and he became a friend and mentor.

When her son died, she was in deep

depression and Gokhale asked her to

start a girls' school. After Gokhale's

death, she founded a school in 1921

and named it Gokhale Memorial Girls'

High School, an inter-provincial

institution on new educational lines,

introducing domestic science, laundry,

music, comparative religion, sports

and games for girls, subjects which till

then did not appear in the curriculum in girls' schools.

I have memories of that school as I studied there in

my early years and both my sisters studied there

from kindergarten till they passed out. Sarala Roy

was an educationist with a vision and long before the

three language formula was thought of by the

government, all students in the school had to learn

three languages- Bengali, English and Hindi. The

medium of instruction in the primary school was

Bengali but English was taught from the primary level

by English teachers. Once a week we had sports and

plays were staged once a year. School began every

morning with prayer songs of Rabindranath Tagore.

Jana Gana Mana was the school anthem long before

it became the national anthem.

Mrs. Roy was the first woman to become secretary of

the Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya. She was a member

of the Calcutta University Senate and one of the

leaders of the All India Women's Conference. She

was elected President of AIWC in 1931 to preside

over the fourth session held in Madras. In her

presidential address she emphasized that the

keynote of the Conference was educational reform.

She pointed out the deplorable condition of

women's education in India and the high rate of

illiteracy among Indian women. In her address she

outlined her ideas on women's education.

She was a pioneer for women's rights and opposed

all the injustices and oppression that women

suffered. She died in 1946 full of hounours.

- Dr. Aparna Basu, Patron AIWC

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20

AIWC reaches Rural Women

through its initiative of adoption of villages- Vijaya Bhasin, Programme Manager AIWC

Empowering rural women is the base on which the

pillars of rural development stand strongly.AIWC

believes that women, especially from rural areas

need more attention as far as empowerment of

women is concerned. Village women do not have

easy access to services like health, education,

technology, legal etc.In view of these facts, focus of

AIWC's activities now is on overall development of

rural women. Programmes geared towards

awareness generation on various issues related to

health, hygiene sanitation, water, waste

management combined with literacy and income

generation activities, Aim to make women socially

and economically empowered. The other objective is

that they do not migrate to urban areas in search of

work and at the same time preserve the traditional art

and culture.

Activities for empowerment of rural women were

intensified under the programme 'Adoption of

Villages'. It is visualised that this approach would

benefit the community as a whole and women in

particular and general conditions of the village

improve

The programmes introduced in the villages aim at

mobilization of poor women and convergence of

services, by offering them a range of economic and

social options, along with necessary support

measures to enhance their capabilities It integrates

various need based programmes like literacy, health,

water, sanitation, waste management, promotion of

herbal gardens, etc. with economic activities in

villages to have an overall impact on the lives of rural

women

Sadhrana located in Gurgaon-Haryana is the first

village where AIWC started its activities in 2002.

From Delhi, it is a two hours journey. This village

narrates a success story of empowered women.

Agriculture is the main occupation in the village.

Women of the village wanted land for cultivation.

Through AIWC's intervention, women self help

groups were formed.Panchayat was contacted and

land was given on lease to these women self help

groups. The land was barren. There was no water for

irrigation and without water, land was of no use.

AIWC provided water submersible pump. The

women purchased sprinkler from self help group

money. Now they grow wheat, peas, millets,

marigold flowers, sunflowers.

There are 17 Self Help groups. According to them

now no woman is poor.

Children are getting good education. Women are

empowered. Kirani became sarpanch and from

panchayat funds she introduced many facilities in

the village like road to reach the field, toilets for

women. She fought with panchayat who were

against sending her daughter outside the village for

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21

higher education. Empowered as she was, she was

adamant to educate her daughter even against the

views of panchayat.Today her daughter has passed

police training and soon she will be getting posting in

Gurgaon. She tells this with great pride.

Sunita –another empowered woman is secretary of

AIWC's branch in village. Her children are also

technically qualified.

The groups are self sufficient. Herbal gardening,

Jute bag making, vemi composting are some of the

activities they have ventured into. After learning

cutting and tailoring,Gita has opened her own tent

house. Dairy farming has been taken up by

Kirani.They participate in fairs of Government by

putting their stalls and are happy.

Now this village has turned out to be a branch of

AIWC.The women are empowered stand up if any

injustice is done to any woman and are in need of

some help

Fathahabad village-West Bengal

Fathahabad village is around 40 km. away from

Calcutta. The village has 650 families consisting of

643 Muslim and 7 Hindu families.The problems of

the village are as under-

1. No drinking water/hygiene.

2. No education

3. No other work than bidi rolling or production of

fire works.

4. No control on population.

5. Trafficking and migration problems.

East Calcutta constituency branch has changed the

lives of many women bidi workers residing in this

village.The branch is working since 1st July,2010 .

Sarpanch, school teachers are working with branch

members. To start with, women bidi workers were

sensitized on the bad effects of tobacco on the

health .This was followed by providing them training

in alternate vocations .Women self help groups were

formed and the accounts of these women were

opened in banks. Now they are earning well. They

make soft toys,noodles,jewellery items from jute,

and artificial flowers.

Motivating women to shift to alternate vocations,

and sending children to schools was a big challenge,

but with concerted efforts of our members, it was

made possible. Now children and women attend

integrated literacy and skill development classes.

Other challenges in the village were related to health,

sanitation and water problems .Anemia detection

camps are conducted and medicines are provided to

anemic patients .After 3 months review camps are

conducted for assessing the status of hemoglobin.

In the village, awareness programmes are being

conducted. Through women pressure groups ,the

local panchayat bodies have been convinced to

improve conditions in of the village. Training

programmes for the adolescents on enhancing life

skills are conducted.They are given training on

subjects like health,reproductive health,HiV/Aids

,nutrition,relation building,career options etc.

Chamtagara village- West Bengal

It is a tribal village located at a remote place. It has

an overnight journey from Calcutta. Skill centered

literacy module is introduced to attract women .They

get training in skill and also become literate. Market

links are explored for selling the products. They are

learning the skills in bamboo art and fishing hooks.

This module has helped in retaining women for the

literacy.

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Children get supportive education for coping with the

school curriculum. Non formal education for 3-6 year

old children is also provided.

'PERUVAMPADAM' ST COLONY IN NILAMBUR,

KERALA.

This is the adopted village by our Nilambur Branch.

Families living in this Cluster 92

Number of Population 583

Women 287

Number of children who are Under 12 years 104

When a baseline Survey of the Colony was made it

was observed that there is high rate of illiteracy, %

age of dropouts was very high. There was extreme

poverty and exploitation of laborers. It was further

observed that not only men but women also have

habit of drinking liquor.

After adoption of the village, every day women

started coming to the centre asking for work,

education etc. men are also interested in developing

good habits and live in hygienic condition. With eight

sewing machines for cutting, tailoring classes, they

are making dresses, gowns, uniforms etc. Marketing

is not a problemin the area. The Secretary of

Nilambur Branch has very good contacts in the city

and businessmen are ready to give business to

these groups. There are 2 SHG groups. In the

Literacy class 20 students are there and in skill

training 18 students are there. On weekends they

conduct special programmes on covering women's

issues, sanitation ,health,hygiene etc.

Since it is a tribal area,women are familiar with herbal

plants. Under socio-economic programme of

AIWC,medicinal unit is functioning well and has been

linked to Ayurveda hospital.

'Junoti' village- Maharashtra

In this village there are 146 tribal families and

population is 879. 95% families are below poverty

line. Since they do not have certificate, they are not

getting any benefit from Govt. Schemes.

As the village is near Nasik city,the major business is

cultivation of grapes. The business men need

laborers for the activity. They pay advance money

and force the people to work for them.

Hence most of the male members of the family are

out of village for 7-8 months and the women have to

take care of the families.

One primary school is available in the village. The

basic needs are water, sanitation, good house, some

vocational training for women, literacy program etc.

Literacy classes have been started. The women are

given training in broom making, agarbatti making

and stitching. Awareness programmes on health

nutrition etc.For adolescent girls capacity building

programme are also being conducted.

Kommargiri village-Kakinada-A.P.

This village narrates the success story of women.

who earlier worked as bonded laborers and now

through the initiative of AIWC Now they have been

freed from the hands of contractors and now they

work on their own looms and weave traditional

sarees .They are confident and are leading

independent life. They have saved the, traditional art

of weaving Jamdani sarees.

Kommargiri is a small village in East Godavari district

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23

of Andhra Pradesh.It is located at a distance of 15.

i.e. from Kakinada.

No. of households 1348

Population 5504

Men 2773

Women 2731

Cultivators 240

Agricultural laborers 1854

The success story of this village is visible in the

confident faces of women weavers who earlier

worked as bonded laborers.

AIWC in collaboration with CSWB has adopted a

village Komarigiri, in memory of Dr. Durgabai

Deshmukh on the occasion of her Centenary

celebration programme at Kakinada A.P. It was

inaugurated by Chair person CSWB,Mrs. Kariappa

in June 2009.The CSWB has sanctioned the grant in

aid for the village under the innovative scheme for

the following activities-

• Awareness generation

• Condensed course (14 passed out of 25

students who were mainly village women with

children)

• A unit of saree weaving center ( ongoing)

• A unit of coconut oil extraction ( ongoing)

The Spectrum Industry has been contacted as a part

of their CSR to that village.

The task is not yet complete. It is difficult and full of

challenges. We have to move further facing

challenges and to bring the smile on many faces. The

journey will continue drawing strength and

inspiration from our stalwarts' .It will be possible with

team of our committed workers who have strong will

power and determination.

As a finale of the AIWC Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, the pilot village project was inaugurated on 5th

March 2006. We chose this day, to coincide with International Women;s Day i.e. 8th March. As a

sequence of a resolution made at the Jubilee Session at Pune by Mrs. Kalpakam Yechury, the head office

decided to adopt a village close to the headquarters, so as to have an ‘integrated development’ at the

grass root level. AIWC intends to develop it into a model village integrating projects from sanitation to

micro-credit.

After conducting a survey of more than 10 villages aroumd Delhi (Haryana, Faridabad, Nazafgarh), the

committee decided to adopt village Sadhrana in Haryana - near Sultanpur bird sanctuary. This village has

all the problems that every other village has, but the main motivation is that the sarpanch is a woman, and

we felt that all the women were already well motivated. Smt. Bedwati, village sarpanch is a dedicated

worker for the cause of village upliftment and is willing to take up new initiatives.

AIWC was happy that women along with men attended the programme, which is very rare in this area.

Mrs. Veena Kohli, Treasurer of AIWC, thanked all the people present and the persons who made the

function a success. It was satisfying to read the reports in the press about “the sleepy village came alive

with activity”.

(From Roshni 2006)

Peep into the past 2006-Adoption of Village Sardhana

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24

- Mythily Jagannathan

Development of agriculture and alled sectors is

critical to the overall prosperity of the Indian

economy.This sector accounts for 14.2 % of the

Gross Domestic Product. It provides 58 % of

employment. In addition to food and livelihood,

agriculture provides raw material to industries, and a

vast variety of products for the consumer market.In

India as in other developing countires, women

provide 50 % of labour and skills, and supporting

services in agriculture.

It is interesting to observe that agriculture is

increasingly becoming a female activity. According to

latest estimates, it employs 80 % of working women

as compared to 63 % of all working men.The

difference is even more marked in other sectors like

dairy- 75 million women to 15 million men, and care

of livestock- 20 million women to 1.5 million men.

Despite their central role in food production and

processing, rural women continue to be in the grip of

traditional social and economic norms.The

ownership of land is almost non- existent for female

workers from small farm households. Female

labourers contribute significantly to the household

but have very little say in decision making. Lack of

education, and support services of health, access to

information and skills and finance are impediments

in finding options for gainful economic activites.

Empowering women through education and

employment

Experience of the Green Revolution showed that

improved technology often by-passed poorer and

weaker sections including women. In the 1970's,

agriculture technology advanced very rapidly

raising production and leading to a host of allied

You Can’t Ignore Rural Women

support industries, but these did not directly involve

women. Technology requiring scientific techniques

combined with the advent of a variety of farm

machinery pushed out women from traditional

seasonal work, reduced employment options, and

made them more vulnerable socially and

economically.

In the early Five Year Plans, development

programmes for women were based on non- farm

activities like Community Development Programme

(with a focus on health , child care, and nutrition).

During the Sixth Plan period (1980-85), it was

acknowledged that women were not adequately

benefiting from development programmes. This led

to the launching of schemes like DWRCA

(development scheme for women and children),

which gave giving women income- generating

options. Later, TRYSEM (for training in self-

employment in weaving, handicrafts, animal

husbandry), gave women entry into many agri-

related professions.

In the Eighth Plan, the Ministry of Agriculture

launched the scheme “Women in Agriculture” in one

district each in 7 states, this was later extended to 15

states. The aim was to motivate women to form

SHGs , provide training in agriculture technologies,

managerial and skill development, and other allied

activites for running agro- based enterprises and

services, as well as improve health and nutrition.

During the Ninth Plan new programmes like SGSRY

- Swarna Jayanti Gram Swa Rozgar Yojana, and

NREP, National Rural Employment Scheme,had a

major focus on economic empowerment of rural

women through forming SHGs for availing credit and

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25

resources for income- generation , and employment

guarantee . In all government development schemes

33% of funds are earmarked for women farmers. A

gender- based census is conducted by the Ministry

of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

The following table of a recent Census shows the

percentage of women farmers in each category of

land holding:

Size of holding % age of women owners

Marginal ( below 1 ha) .2

Small (1- 1.99 ha) 11.10

Medium (4- 9.99 ha) 7.77

Large ( 10 ha & above ) 6

Average 11.70

These figures given in the Annual Report of the

Ministry of Agriculture, 2010- 2011 show that on an

average, over a tenth of all farms are managed by

women . It highlights the critical role of women in the

nation's food security.

Both the Ninth and Tenth Five Year Plans were

committed to empowerment of rural women. Some

of the parameters for empowerment were:

*Access to credit, ownership and control over

resources

*Access to training and skills in agriculture and allied

sectors.

*Formation of womens groups was recognized as a

tenet of womens empowerment.

The national schemes are implemented through

State Governments, who also have their special

schemes/ subsidies for women farmers. Women

also have representation in Advisory bodies and

decision making government agencies at State,

District and Block level.

Implementation of several special schemes for rural

women have led to forming some policy guidelines

for empowerment of rural women:

*Decision making ability in women was directly

related to their access to technical knowledge, skills

and resources.

*Concerted efforts are needed to develop improved

technologies for farm operations performed by

women like transplanting, harvesting, cleaning of

produce etc., for reducing drudgery.

*Farm technology meetings, demonstrations and

should be fully accessible to women for enhancing

their skills and knowhow

*Farm women should be facilitated to have market

linkages to enable sale of produce for the best price.

*Strategies for women should include both on and off

farm activites as women had multiple roles in society.

*A greater investment in schemes for women is

necessary to raise agricultural production.

Conclusion

There are several instances where the provision of

skills, credit and support to women have brought

about great changes in society. The National Dairy

Development Board has 6000 women Dairy Co-

operatives managing milk production, marketing and

allied enterprises. As a result formerly ignored,

backward women are now confident business

women. An indirect result has been a decline in the

birth rate, and higher standard of living.

In an experiment in Bankura in West Bengal, a

predominantly tribal area, an NGO got wasteland

donated to a womens society, and helped to

implement a program of land regeneration, mulberry

plantation leading to a chain of silk-reeling and

marketing centres in the region, transforming lives of

tribal folk.

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26

The story of the Chipko movement in the Garhwal

sub- Himalayas is well known. Helped by an

environment NGO, women stopped the devastation

of forests, started collective ownership of plantation

nurseries, replanted forests, implementing their

own system for repairing the damage done to their

environment. The determination of women led to the

passing of Environment Protection Acts and severe

laws to punish offenders.

The SHG movement in East Godavari District of

Andhra Pradesh led to the setting up of a record

46574 SHGs with an average group earning of Rs

3000 per month. The State Bank of India , a lead

bank in SHG funding, has lent Rs 66 crores to

Census 2011 has come out with some contradicting facts which cause grave concern. The census data

reveals that though half of all Indians do not have a toilet at home, more than half own a telephone or cell

phone. Though millions in India have access to new technologies and consumer goods, a large number

lack access to basic necessities of living. Majority households own televisions and have access to up- to-

date information; yet a good number of women are still using traditional smoking fuels and they are not

aware of the new and renewable energy devices for cooking. Only less than 30% has access to safe

drinking water.

The census highlights the lack of sanitary facilities which together with the gruesome issue of the waste

accumulation can create major health problems. Lack of treated drinking water to more than 68 percent

of the population is something to be seriously considered.

Instead of politicising these issues, time has come to find out effective scientific solutions to the above life

threatening issues. Each individual and each household must realise their responsibility to keep their

surroundings clean and help in environment protection.

AIWC Tvpm Br. has started an awareness campaign to educate the public about simple scientific waste

management techniques which can be practised at the household level. We concentrate on flats and

colonies and we are networking with the local NGOs active in the field.

01/04/2012 Indira Ramakrishna Pillai

WORDS OF WISDOM

1) In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail. - Longinus

2) Deliberation is not delaying - Ancient proverb

3) What hands have built, hands can pull down - Sehilles

4) Every land is his native land to a brave man - Lycurgue

News Letter

35,000 SHGs ( 2002 figures).

It is now realized that the nations prosperity is not in

the visible growth in cities and rise in purchasing

power of urban population, but in removing the

constraints of livelihood and living conditions of rural

folk, particularly women. A number of schemes

launched through government and NGOs are

women specific and women oriented . these have

brought a slow but perceptible change in the lives of

farm women. Rural women are stepping forward in

local bodies all over India, thanks to the rise in

women’s representation from 33% to 50% in 2011.

Esentially, from being an “ object” of social change,

they are set to become an “agent” of change.

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27

“The Empowerment of rural women and their role in

poverty and hunger eradication “was the topic for this

year's NGO Committee on the Status of Women,

New York (CSW56). We were one of the few who got

the opportunity to conduct the workshop in

collaboration with International Federation of

Settlement (IFS) on 29th February, 2012, due to the

efforts of our permanent representative Sudha

Acharya, on Empowering Rural Women in South

Asia, a NGO Experience. The Workshop was held at

the Boss Room, 8th Floor, and 777 UN Plaza. (In her

inaugural speech, Soon-Young Yoon, Chair,

NGO/CSW Forum 2012, said that she was inspired

by over 290 applications received for the NGO

parallel event.)

The topic was very close to my heart and therefore,

we decided to participate in this major event. The

announcement about the 56th CSW was made in our

Annual Meeting at Kolkata and the following

delegates attended the event.

President Mrs Bina Jain, (Leader of the Team)

Secretary General, Mrs. Sheila Kakde,

Vice President, Mrs.Asha Deshpande,

Member in charge Youth, Mrs. Shveta Talwar,

Standing Committee Member Mrs. Ananya

Dasgupta, Village representative, Mrs.Ashvini

Kshirsagar .

Report on My visit to New York for the 56th CSW and

our Workshop held there.

24th February to 29th February, 2012

By Mrs. Bina Jain

We arrived in New York on 24th evening and

checked into the hotel, which was quite comfortable,

thanks to the efforts of our dear friend Sudha

Acharya, who had made our bookings. The weather

God was on our side, as we were welcomed by

pleasant weather and the weather continued to be

pleasant throughout our stay.

25th February was the Registration Day. We

completed all the formalities.

26th February, 2012 was the Consultation Day for

the delegates. It was a grand event, where most of

the delegates from all over the world had gathered.

Ms.Nyaradazi Gumbongvanda, Chairperson,

NGO/CSW, Geneva presided over one session of

the event. The whole day was highly absorbing as

various grass root workers from rural areas,

including the sister of the Chairperson, shared their

real life experiences, with heart rendering stories of

their struggle to reach where they were at present.

27th February 2012, was the formal inauguration of

the UN Session Entry was by pass, and only one

pass per organisation was given.

We took turns to attend the same so that all of us

could attend for a while. It was a great experience to

see a gathering of almost 4500 people from different

parts of the world. It was noticed that three

generations were present in the group. There was a

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large number of Youth who were taking a lot of

interest in all the activities.

I attended the meeting where discussion about the

5th World Conference of women was held, along

with Sudha Acharya. We have now received

confirmation that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-

Moon and the president of the 66th session of the UN

General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser

proposed the idea of holding a global conference on

women's issues in 2015, The joint announcement

was released on the International Women's Day.

On 28th February we participated in the side event

of IAW on “Innovative Approach to Economic

Development of Rural Women”. I was one of the 3

Speakers in the event, the paper submitted by me

on the AIWC activities and approach to Rural

Development was highly appreciated by all. There

was a lot of discussion on the paper, and question

and answer session. Even during the next day's

session, people came forward to congratulate me on

AIWC's approach to Rural Development. We had

carried a booklet on the programmes done by us for

the Millennium Goals and distributed among

participants. Lot of photographs of different activities

run by our branches were displayed

Side events were held on various topics like gender

equality, political empowerment, rural women and

girl's education, at various venues, which were

attended by our Members.

Our workshop on Empowering Rural Women in

South Asia, a NGO Experience, held on 29th

February was a grand success. Dr. Afaf Mahfouz,

Former President, Conference of NGOs (CoNGO)

was the Moderator. I presented the welcome

address as President, AIWC. Dr Bobbi Nassar,

Permanent Representative to the UN, IFS.

welcomed the gathering. Speakers included;

Prof.Johanna Sterbin, International Federation of

Women Lawyers, Ms Nirmala Mohan Kumar, from

Sri Lanka, Ms Sarala Gopalan, All India Federation

of Women's Association, Ms Ashwini Kshirsagar,

Head of Panchayat , grass root worker, Ms Sheela

Kakde, Secretary General, AIWC, Ms Asha

Deshpande, Vice President, AIWC.

The workshop focussed on the initiatives taken by

AIWC towards achieving the objective of

Empowerment of Rural Women and their role in

poverty and hunger eradication

Our decision to take Ashwini Kshirsagar, Head of

Panchayat as a representative of the empowered

rural women was highly appreciated by all. This

experience makes us believe that we should

encourage more and more such representation by

rural women in major events, which will make them

confident and to be on par with their urban

counterparts she shared her real life experience in

her own language, which was translated by Asha

Deshpande in English.

A documentary film highlighting the activities of

AIWC in remote rural/tribal villages of West Bengal

and Sadhrana Village in India was screened, which

was viewed with keen interest by all the participants

with rapt attention. This was followed by a lot of

discussion and question and answer sessions.

We are grateful to Shantanu Kakde for his kind help

in taking a video of our Workshop. The event was

telecast by TV Asia on 3rd March in the US.

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Workshop on Empowerment of Rural Women

and their role in poverty and hunger eradication.29th February, 2012 at New York

Welcome Address by President , Mrs. Bina Jain

All India Women's Conference was established in

1927 with a main focus on Education of Women.

Over the years it was felt that education was not the

only tool for women empowerment; focus area was

therefore widened so as to include overall socio-

economic empowerment of women through various

activities all over the country.

The word WOMAN is so powerful. If I say that

women have played a role more important than men

since eternity, it is no exaggeration.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru once rightly said, “You can

tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of

its women”.

We completely subscribe to this belief and steps are

being taken to further improve the condition of rural

women in India.

The world would not have been such a lovely and

liveable place without the selfless contribution made

by women.

It has been said that, you teach a female and you

build up a nation, and the truth can't be closer than

that.

Women have always played the role of a wife,

mother, sister all on their own and magnificently

carried on this position.

Unfortunately things have not remained the same in

the last few decades or even centuries.

Women have begun to be considered less

powerful and, in recent times, have been relegated

to a secondary position in society as compared to

men. The situation, however, is not entirely bleak,

thanks to the efforts of government, NGOs, social

welfare organizations and many such institutions

that have contributed immensely in bringing about

a drastic improvement in their condition.

Many private corporate bodies have also taken a

keen interest in improving the economic status of

women with very encouraging results.

Urban women in India always had more advantages

and opportunities than women residing in rural

areas. Easy access to modern education,

technology, economic resources, medical facilities,

etc. are examples in this respect.

But despite being deprived of the basic facilities in

life, rural women have made some improvement in

various dimensions of life, though the ultimate goal

of attaining complete empowerment is still far away.

The time has come now where our focus should shift

to the overall development of rural women. To

ensure that they attain economic empowerment

without migrating to urban areas, several

programmes have been undertaken by AIWC,

examples of which are:

Self Help Groups, (leased land for cultivation)

vocational training programmes,(cutting tailoring,

beauty culture) income generation opportunities,

(dairy farming, handicrafts etc).

We will now show you a documentary on the

activities of AIWC in remote tribal villages of India.

We have with us here Smt Ashwini Kshirsagar, a

Panchayati head (Head of village level local

governance) from one of the remote villages of

Maharashtra. She will share with us her real life

experience of how she empowered herself to reach

this level and how she helped women in her village.

After that Mrs Sheela Kakde our Secretary General

and Mrs Asha Deshpande our Vice President will

elaborate on the endeavours of AIWC in various

fields.

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Innovative Approaches for Economic

Development of Rural Women- Presentation made by Mrs. Bina Jain, President AIWC at a workshop - UN Conference New York

Millions of women in our hamlets know what

unemployment means. Give them access to

economic activities and they will have access to

power and self-confidence to which hitherto have

been stranger

- Mahatma Gandhi

Economic empowerment of women is fundamental

to their overall empowerment. It implies a better

quality of material life through sustainable

livelihoods, owned and managed by women. Poverty

is not to be looked in isolation. In a country like India,

where the gender divide and the inequalities

between men and women is so wide, providing the

skill and the opportunity to be economically self

sufficient must go hand in hand with social and

political empowerment.

In rural India, the Indian population is 48.1% women

and 51.9% men and female illiteracy is 62% whereas

the male illiteracy rate is 34%. The labour force

participation rate of women is 22.7%, less than half of

the men's rate of 51.6%.In rural India, agriculture and

allied industrial sectors employ as much as 89.5% of

the total female labour.Women have extensive work

loads with dual responsibility for farm and household

production.Women's work is getting harder and

more time-consuming due to ecological degradation

and changing agricultural technologies and

practices.Women have an active role and extensive

involvement in livestock production, forest resource

use and fishery processing.Women spend up to six

hours a day bringing water from ponds,rivers,wells.

Within the framework of a democratic policy, our

laws, development policies, plans and programmes

have aimed at women's advancement in different

sphere. The women's movement and a wide-spread

network of non-Government Organizations which

have strong grass-roots presence and deep insight

into women's concerns have contributed in inspiring

initiatives for the empowerment of women.However,

there still exists a wide gap between the goals

enunciated in the Constitution, legislation, policies,

plans, programmes, and related mechanisms on the

one hand and the situational reality of the status of

women in India, on the other hand.

Women have to pay in various ways for the fault of

their men counterparts. Further, they do not have a

direct standing in the credit market, either formal or

informal. The vulnerability of women in this area is

exacerbated by several predominant factors, for

example massive illiteracy, rigid and conservative

customs and traditions, rampant corruption at all

levels of formal sources, integrated operation of local

political interests, and many more such factors. In

most of the villages where regular scarce food

situation prevails, it leaves no alternative for the poor

communities than to fall prey to the moneylenders.

The Women's Self Help Group is a movement in

itself. Women who have never stepped out from

within the four walls of their homes converge to form

small bands of saving groups in an effort to confront

the looming problem of access to credit for taking

minimal care of their family needs. This is a story of

all self help groups run by NGOs. These women

have imbibed a spirit of discipline, unity and empathy

for fellow beings. The SHGs have equipped the

women with decision making power and promoted

self-reliance. This has helped to build capacity of

poor and disadvantaged women to overcome

economic, social and cultural barriers. It has also

helped to empower women to work together with

men as equal partners and to inspire a new

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generation of women and men to work together for

equality, sustainable development and communal

harmony.

AIWC's objective for rural development is to

discourage migration of rural women to cities and

encourage them to stay there by participating in the

developmental activities. It has a vast experience of

working with the rural poor women, making them

aware of their inert abilities and encouraging

leadership qualities, striving towards a better quality

of life. Along with this we have endeavoured to

include responsible community living towards

building a better society. Self Help Groups have

proved to be an effective tool for poverty alleviation

and empowerment of women.

AIWC has around 2800 Women self help groups in

the rural and the semi-urban areas, monitored and

facilitated by the branches. These groups are made

keeping in view the interests, and needs of the

women.The SHGs have proved instrumental in

assimilation and dissemination of knowledge about

health, nutrition, literacy, women's rights, child care,

education, adoption of new agricultural practices,

farm and non farm sector economic activities etc.

and pave the way for increased participation of

women in decision making in households,

community and the local democratic set up besides

keeping to prepare women to take up leadership

position

AIWC has adopted an integrated and holistic

approach for community development by adopting

the villages.

We have selected those villages which are either

tribal or very poor with minimal or negligible

facilities.The spirit behind this programme is to stop

migration of rural women to cities in search of work

and encourage them to stay in villages and

contribute towards village development.

The programmes introduced in the villages aim at

mobilization of poor women and convergence of

services, by offering them a range of economic and

social options, along with necessary support

measures to enhance their capabilities

The following results are envisioned along with

economic independence-

· Making women's contribution to society visible

· Affirming women's knowledge, skills and

experience in other areas of this involvement

· Creating a social environment that gives women

self-esteem and self-confidence

· Providing opportunities for empowering

education to girls and women and providing

support to them to move into non-traditional

roles and take decisions about themselves.

· Enhancing women's participation in political

processes at all levels.

· Making facilities and resources available and

accessible

The strategy is-

It integrates various need based programmes like

l i teracy, health, water, sanitation, waste

management, promotion of herbal gardens, etc. with

economic activities in villages to have an overall

impact on the lives of rural women. Poverty is the

general base of tribal existence in India, which arises

due to economic as well as non-economic factors.

Some of these factors are low agricultural

productivity, shifting cultivation, land alienation,

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indebtedness, lack of irrigational facilities, low

educational status, poor health condition,

malnutrition, diseases, isolation and exploitation by

traders and marginalization. Centuries of social

repression have engendered in them a feeling of

inferiority and it is not surprising that they have lost all

confidence in themselves. Through our programmes

we are receiving very encouraging response from

the beneficiaries.

Some of the income generating activities that were

need based have contributed a lot in improving the

economic conditions of our rural women in the

villages are-

· Tussar silk reeling

· Bamboo craft

· Herbal medicinal units

· Saree weaving units

· Herbal water

· Waste management (Generating electricity for

the toilet compound with Bio-gas)

· Repair and maintenance of solar devices

· Saree Weaving and coconut oil extraction

· Coir products preparation

· Tailoring and embroidery

· Solar drying of fruits and vegetables

· Food Processing (masala, pickle, jam etc.)

· Catering services

· Sanitary Napkin making

· Umbrella making

· Pottery making

· Floriculture

· Agriculture

· Cattle Rearing and Dairy Farming

I would like to quote a few case studies-

Village Sadhrana, Gurgaon-

The village was adopted in 2002.It is a success story

of economic and social empowerment of more than

200 beneficiaries. The women, once hesitant to

come out from their houses and reluctant to uncover

their faces ,today have emerged as confident

women who can speak before august

audience.Activities were all designed to empower

the rural communities to organise themselves for

t h e i r o w n p e r s o n a l a n d c o m m u n a l

empowerment.Through 17 SHGs,they have started

various activities through bank loan.

They manage agriculture.Land was taken on lease

from the panchayat. The land was barren.Water

pump was provided by AIWC and group on their own

n contributed for water sprinkler for irrigation. The

land has become fertile and crops of wheat,millets

,peas,marigold and sunflowers are grown

.Accordingto the groups “ No one is poor now”

The other groups mange milk dairy,Tent house,jute

bag making

One lady became sarpanch in panchayat and

initiated work to improve the sanitary conditions of

the village,construction of roads,water,electricity etc.

The women fight for their rights.Girls are getting

educated outside the village.One girl against the

panchayat 's views joined police training.The women

stand against discrimination and violence against

women.

Komaragiri village

AIWC in collaboration with CSWB has adopted a

village Komaragiri, in memory of Dr. Durgabai

Deshmukh on the occasion of her Centenary

celebration programme at Kakinada A.P. in June

2009.The village is inhabited by weavers who used

to work as bonded laborers. Through our programme

they have been freed from the hands of contractors

and now they work on their own looms and weave

traditional sarees.The other group of women

manage coconut oil extraction unit. Women have

attended condensed courses and participated in

many awareness programmes on health, nutrition,

sanitation and waste management.

The Spectrum Industry has been contacted as a part

of their CSR to that village. coordinative committee

consisting of spectrum, AIWC Secretary and local

v i l lage person look af ter the programs

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33

PERUVAMPADAM ST' COLONY IN NILAMBUR,

KERALA.

In Kerala, the magnitude of tribal population (1.1%) is

less than that of the national average (7%) and many

targeted programmes have been implemented with

a focus on the social and economic development of

the tribal population. However, most of the tribals in

Kerala are still marginalized and isolated from the

mainstream and lead a life marked by hunger and

deprivation. The basic lacuna observed in these

development programmes are the lack of 'people

centered approach'. Further most of these

programmes are not on the basis of the needs of the

target population and it is possible that the target

group is not properly aware of the facilities provided

by the Government. It is also possible that in some

cases that the people living in an isolated area in their

own traditional way do not adopt the new techniques

immediately because of the fear that it may also

destroy them as the policies of the white people did in

the past.

In response to the complex set of conditions that

results in gender inequity, poverty and limited access

to resources for development, efforts have been

initiated to strengthen tribal women of Nilambur by

providing training and awareness programme for

income generation activities usingnatural resource

management viz. medicinal plants cultivation, and

setting up of herbal medicinal unit. Women of this

region are aware about biological diversity and rich in

indigenous knowledge of natural resource and its

management on which they depend for livelihoods.

Women are earning money, they have become

literate and aware of their rights. They wanted to

learn computer and we have provided them.The

medicinal unit has been attached to Ayurveda

hospital and medicines are sold to the hospital.

Achievements

Besides improving the economic status and

preservation of our art and culture and environment,

these endeavors have helped in curbing many social

evils like castism, freeing women from the clutches of

money lenders and bonded labor.

AIWC in collaboration with Ministry of Water

Resources, Government of India, organized 30 TOT

programmes for grass root level workers and created

a resource pool of 900 women trainers. The

programme covered women from all over India.

We are happy to know from our Bankura Branch how

this TOT has influenced the local society. This

branch is dominated by the tribal and backward class

people. They were not allowed to go to certain

classes for collection of water. But now after this

training, the men and women belonging to certain

class are coming to these tribal to get their water

tested and to know other techniques of water

harvesting.

One of our branches at Trivandrum, has

experimented bottling herbal water. It has become

an economic activity for them. They sell solar treated

water in pouches. This helps them to earn money.

We are also promoting rain water harvesting.

This programme also has helped in the eradication of

caste system that is very common in the remote

areas. So it had social effect also in bringing the

different castes together. Now they are entering the

houses of certain classes to test water whereas

earlier they were not allowed to even collect water

from certain classes

1300 women were made literate while learning skills

that ensured that they become financially

independent

800 women bidi workers were sensitized on ill

effects of tobacco that is rolled in bidis and were

given training in health friendly alternate vocations.

Self help groups were made and now they are

preparing goods and selling also on their

own.Fathhabad and Junoti villages have been

adopted by AIWC Women are able to fight for their

rights and entitlements and have emerged as force

to be reckoned with.

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34

The contingent of six delegates of All India Women's

Conference landed at New York on 24th February,

2012 with President, Smt. Bina Jain in the lead to

attend the United Nations Commission on the Status

of Women, CSW56. The Secretary General, Smt.

Sheela Kakde, Vice-President, Smt. Asha

Deshpande ,Member-in-Charge Youth Affairs, Smt.

Shevata Rai Talwar, Ms. Ananya Dasgputa & rural

empowered woman Ashwini Kshirsagar were the

other members. Smt. Sudha Acharya, AIWC's

permanent representative at UN joined us there.

The Commission on the Status of Women was

established in 1946 by the economic & social council

to prepare recommendations and reports for the

council on promoting women's rights in political,

economic, civil, social & educational fields. The

session was from 27th February, 2012 till 9th March,

2012.

After settling down at the Hotel Affinia Shelburn on

Lexington Avenue, 37th Street we got our photo

identities done on 25th February at United Nations

main building. On 26th February was the

consultation day program at the Salvation Army, 120

West, 24th Street, from 9.00 a.m. till 5.00 p.m. All

were registered and could get the feeling of

international meetings. The children of National

Dance Institute in colourful dresses welcomed all the

delegates. Then the chairman of NGO CSW New

York, Soon Young Yoon formerly welcomed all. She

is the UN representative for the International Alliance

of Women. Leyman Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize

United Nations Commission on the

status of women, CSW 56 - an experience - Sheela Kakde, Secretary General, AIWC

Laureate gave the special guest address. Message

of Executive Director, UN Women Michelle Bachelte

was presented. Chairperson of NGO CSW Geneva,

Nyaradzai Gumbouzvanda was the moderator of the

panel discussion on Rural Women. Various eminent

speakers from all over the world presented their

views. Later training for Rural women leaders who

had come, was arranged to give some boost to them.

Ashvini Kshirsagar's participation enhanced her

skills. Orientation for new participants to the CSW

was also done. Advocacy training arranged by

Bahai centre on Gender Equality was attended by

other members.

On 27th February at 10.00 a.m. – The UN session

was formlly inaugurated at the UN assembly hall.

The admission was restricted with secondary pass.

But all of us could attend turn by turn and felt

elevated.

The schedule of all the events, and topics was given

to all who registered and hence could attend the

session of our choice. There were various topics,

innumerable speakers, lot of NGO presenting their

workshops. It seemed that this fortnight was

storehouse of information, knowledge and

participation for.

• NGO sponsored events, conversation circles on

different topics like Peace & Security/Violence

against Women, Health, Ageing, Migration,

Communications, Social Media & Arts, Family,

Trafficking in women & girls. Intergenerational

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35

dialogue, sustainable Development & Climate

Change, Human Rights.

• Caucuses which focused on the outcome

document & follow up plans for the future for

different regions grouped together like Latin

America, North America & Europe, West Asia &

Arab countries, Asia & Pacific etc.

• Parallel events - The sessions of parallel events

had begun from 27th morning at different

locations. They continued till 9th March.

• UN schedules where secondary pass was

required.

• NGO Sponsored external events

• Morning briefings – described in brief

happenings of previous day daily at the UN

Assembly.

The main theme of this CSW Forum at CSW 56 was

“The Empowerment of Rural Women & their role in

Poverty & Hunger, Eradication, Development &

Current Challenges”. This theme was one that was

particularly important in light of many challenges

facing rural women, including the current combined

effects of worldwide economic instability and climate

change, both of which exacerbate the poverty that

most rural women already experience. The

empowerment of rural women can only be achieved

through the full realization of her human rights.

Each of us attended different parallel events so that

we could collect maximum information. I attended

following events –

In the conversation circles on Health & Ageing the

main issues in different countries were shared and

discussed. Government policies and its

implementation especially in rural areas was

focused.

The parallel events which I could attend were –

1. Women, Power & Peace, Leadership in a New

world.

2. Sustainable Development

3. Development Effect iveness: Feminist

Perspective

4. Health workforce for women

5. Innovative Economic Development for Rural

Women

6. Ending the Silence: The impact of early and

forced marriage of Rural Girls.

7. Role of Rural women in Food Security watch

8. Building the culture of peace through the

empowerment of women

9. Situation of Rural women affected by the great

Japan Earthquake & Nuclear Power Plant

accident.

10. Rural women and children: A high risk group for

trafficking in persons,

11. UN International Women's Day was celebrated

on 7th March in the assembly, panel discussion

was held. Jt. Secy. Laxmi Puri said that is should

be everyone's mission to empower rural women,

because they are doubly disadvantaged. The

celebration was arranged on 8th March. At the

closing session on 9th March the draft

resolutions were passed.

12. Change makers & Peace keepers: Journey

towards equal representation of women.

13. Social work with Rural women: Psycho Social

and Economic Empowerment.

On 28th February reception for delegates was

arranged at Turkish centre. Everybody showed

themselves in traditional outfits.

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36

With the efforts of our permanent representative

Sudha Acharya, AIWC had got the opportunity to

present a workshop jointly with International

Federation of Settlement (IFS) at Boss Room, 8th

floor, 777 UN Plaza (CCUN Building) from 6.15 p.m.

to 7.45 p.m. on Wednesday, 29th February, 2012 on

'Empowering Rural Women in South Asia: The NGO

Experience.' The Moderator for the workshops was

Dr. Afaf Mahfouz, Former President, Conference of

NGO's (CONGO), she was introduced by Sudha

Acharya. AIWC President, Mrs. Bina Jain & IFS

President & permanent Representative to the UN Dr.

Boobi Nassar welcomed the audience.

We had Ashwini Kshirsagar the Head of the

Panchayat, from SHIVRI village in the Purandar

Taluk of Saswad, Pune with us. She spoke in

Marathi of her experience when she was the

sarpanch and how she overcame the problems and

was successful in her work and was rewarded for

that. She explained all the developments done by

her in their village like constructing 3 km road, laying

water pipelines and putting up water tanks,

constructing building for village women for getting

training and workshops. The funds were available

from government, but she had to put in efforts and

face opposition in the initial stages.

As her village grows fruits she arranged for training in

Jam & Jelly preparation formed SHGs and trained

them for marketing. Her speech was translated in

English by Asha Deshpande, Vice-President, AIWC,

Mrs. Nirmala Mohan Kumar, President of NGO from

Sri Lanka spoke about her experiences in

empowering women in rural Sri Lanka. Smt. Sheela

Kakde, Secretary General AIWC gave a power point

presentation on her experiences in empowering

women bidi rollers.

Sarla Gopalan, President of All India Women's

Education Fund Association, and former Secretary

of Dept. of Women & Child Welfare, Govt. of India

shared her views.

Prof. Johanna Sterbin, International Federation of

Women Lawyers also spoke.

Asha Deshpande, Vice-President, AIWC gave her

power point presentation on adoption of village and

socio-economic programs of AIWC.

The film of village development of AIWC was shown.

The audience of about 70 had a lot of queries and

questions which were sorted. Workshop was video

filmed by Shantanu Kakde, nephew of Sheela

Kakde. Asia T.V. person also recorded the workshop

and interviewed the President, Secretary General &

Vice-President & Ashiwini which was shown on their

channel on Saturday 3rd March at 3.30 p.m.

It was a successful workshop. I thank all our staff

members who helped us in preparing for this and

making it a success.

On 28th February IAW had arranged a workshop on

Innovative Economic Development for Rural Women

where AIWC President, Smt. Bina Jain was the

speaker. AIWC's work was appreciated.

It was very obviously noticed that the participation of

African countries & NGOs from America were

maximum. Also active participation of young

generation both women and men in large number

was seen. UNCSW is an experience worth getting.

Next year's theme is “Violence Against Women”.

I take this opportunity to thank AIWC for giving me

this opportunity to be a part of CSW 56.

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37

Ashwini belongs to a family from a village, and yet

her parents were keen about education and in spite

of 8 sisters they had given education to all of them

and hence she is proud of her parents . She is bold

and confident, since childhood she used to take parts

in various competitions in the school.

She got married at a young age and had two kids

After they started going to school she felt that she

should earn so that the family could get financial

help. She completed Nursery Teacher's training and

got a job in a school as a teacher and she became

popular. In 1995 she got a chance to take part in

politics of the village. At the first time of her election

she lost it, but she did not take it seriously. After 5

years she decided to stand again and her village

people supported her. She could win the Election.

She was so lucky that, at that time the seat of

Surpanch was reserved for woman. There was a

competition between 3 women but as Ashwini was

an educated lady all members supported her and

she became Surpanch. That was golden

opportunity to her. In the beginning the past

Surpanch who was there for 25 years apposed her

and they felt that the woman cannot handle the

position. They used take out all papers and did not

allow her to submit the papers to higher authorities.

From her home also in the beginning her In laws,

husband apposed her but after doing hard work and

A profile of Ashwini Shkirsagar who was invited by AIWC

to attend the CSW 56 at New York in February 2012

rigorous follow-up [ it took her 1& 2 Yrs.] she stared

getting help from higher officers and support from

people she could do following activities

Water and Sanitation facilities. And program from

AIWC for Water and sanitation

Good approach road for the village [with Shramdan]

Forming SHG groups and taking awareness camps

Health programs, school programs

Various vocational training programs

For all above programs she managed Government

Aid.

At present she is in committee and she feels that due

to this leadership position she could do the work for

the society and still wants to go ahead and help the

society specially women. She gives credit to her

parents. Because they had given education she

could achieve the position and empowered.

Address At Post Shivari, Taluka Saswad Dist. Pune.

Education-B.Com. Nursery- Teacher's Training

Family Background from OBC - Group [Reservation

Category]

Married - Two Children a daughter is studying in last

year Engineering and Son Studying Diploma in Eng.

Husband –Having his own business.

----Asha Deshpande, Vice-President, AIWC

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Congratulations

Mrs. Rehana Begum, Zonal organiser for South Zone A with the Award for Outstanding Woman in Social Service from National Commission of Women in Delhi

Book Release

Mr. K.R.G. Nair's 'Road less travelled'

A book release function, in association with Motilal Nehru College Alumni, was held at the MGM Library of AIWC on March 9. Mr. K.R.G. Nair, the author, happens to be one of the 'friends of AIWC' and his mother was also a member of AIWC in Kerala. It was therefore, Mr. Nair's desire to have his book released at the AIWC venue. The function was chaired by AIWC Patron Dr.Aparna Basu and attended by number of AIWC and Motilal Nehru College Alumni members.

Mr. V.B.N. Ram, a member of the Alumni and a student of Mr.Nair, welcomed the gathering. He briefly touched upon the content of the book which is basically a memoir of Mr. Nair. He also mentioned about the reference by Mr. Nair to Ms. Chandra Rao who being a physically challenged woman had a difficult journey through her career. He applauded the strength and undeterred journey of Mr. Nair in spite of facing frequent racial confrontation. He felt that the book is thought provoking, worth reading, resonates spirit of hope and willpower.

On behalf of AIWC, the President Mrs. Bina Jain welcomed the gathering and congratulated Mr. Nair on his remarkable effort.

Mr. Ramesh Sharma, ex Principal of Motilal Nehru

College also graced the occasion and spoke highly

of Chandra Rao's courage and Mr.Nair's

contributions.

Mr. K.R.G. Nair spoke about how his two dreams,

one of presenting his book to his student and the

other of releasing the book in such an appropriate

venue, happened to come true. He read out

excerpts from the book relating to Chandra Rao and

himself. He wished that the rapport between a

student and the teacher continues to be strong.

Ms. Chandra Rao, one of the characters mentioned

in the book was overwhelmed that for the first time a

student could inspire a teacher for such great writing.

She felt that even today teachers' attitude towards

physically challenged students is sometimes quite

discouraging and considered herself lucky that she

had the support and encouragement of a loving

family and teachers.

Mrs. Meena Vatsa, Principal of AIWC Community

College proposed a vote of thanks.

- by Kalayani Raj

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Kadambini Ganguly (nee Basu) was born in 1861

and this year is the 150th birth anniversary of this

remarkable woman who has strangely been

relegated to near oblivion by us. Even the sketchiest

outline of her life story and her achievements can still

serve as a role model for the most progressive

women of our country today.

The women's question was very much a part of the

social discourse among the educated and more

advanced sections of the society in Bengal when

Kadambini was born. We all know that the great

reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy and Pandit

Iswarchandra Vidyasagar had been instrumental in

introducing legal sanctions to social reforms. But

changes had been in the air ever since the earliest

years of the 19th century due to a number of new

developments. English education questioned some

of the older ideas and practices of our society.

Christian missionaries opened schools to spread

education among women and the efforts of the

enlightened Brahmos and a section of educated

Hindus prepared the ground for education of girls.

The newly awakened national pride which tried to

fight the westerner's condemnation of Indian

civilization because of the miserable condition of

Indian women also acted as a motive force.

However, legal measures and reformative ideas can

be effectively implemented only in a society in which

the social consciousness is on the rise and a

considerable number of people are actively engaged

in enforcing them.

In the earlier years of this change in outlook about

women, the initiative and the decision making power

rested almost wholly with men. Though education for

girls was accepted and even encouraged among the

more progressive sections of the society, it was not a

linear process of change. Its implementation

depended on the ability and willingness of their male

Dr. Kadambini Ganguly : A Pioneer- Santa Bhattacharyya

guardians to act against the prevalent social norms

and practices. Girls who were educated at home or

were allowed to go to schools were mostly married

off before they were adults by our standards, and the

question of their consent either in marriage or in

continuation of their education was at the time

redundant. The general practice was that a girl would

go to school till she was married and a girl's

education was mainly deemed necessary to make

her a better companion for her educated husband, a

better mother and a more efficient housewife. To

envisage a fuller development of the potentialities of

women needed the courage to challenge not only the

older gender role of women in traditional Indian

Hindu society but also to challenge the newly

emerging social perception of women in the

advanced section of the society. It took several more

decades for the girls to come out of their anonymity

and invisibility. One of the very few exceptions to

this general state of things was Kadambini

Ganguly who decided to live her life in her own

terms and did so with spectacular success.

It is against this social context of the subservient

position of women in the contemporary Indian

society that we can appreciate the life story of

Kadambini.

Kadambini was born in the same year as

Rabindranath Tagore and belonged to the same

enlightened and educated Brahmo community of

Bengal of the time. She imbibed the social and

intellectual ferment that characterized the mid-19th

century urban elite among whom the Tagore family

occupied the foremost place. And her life story is the

earliest example in which the uncertainties,

vacillations and compromises which characterized

the efforts and actions of most of the progressive

social thinkers when it came to put their convictions

ROSHNI

40

into practice, were resolved. The credit for this goes

as much to her grit and unconventional mental make-

up as to the support she received from her family,

both before and after her marriage.

Kadambini's father Brajo Kishore Basu was a

Brahmo reformer who fought for women's rights. He

founded a Mahila Samiti (1863), the first of its kind, in

Bhagalpur when he was the headmaster of

Bhagalpur school.Thus Kadambini grew up in a

congenial atmosphere and came to Calcutta to

pursue her studies at Banga Mahila Vidyalaya,

founded by a group of radical Brahmos who

believed that a girl's education should be as liberal

and as comprehensive as a boy's education. She

appeared in the Entrance examination from this

school in 1878 and was the first Indian woman to

pass this examination. Her class-mate Sarala Das

had also been given permission to appear in this

examination but could not do so as she was married

off before the examination. This incident needs to be

noted because Sarala was the daughter of

Durgamohan Das, one of the most progressive

Brahmo reformers of the day, who fearlessly

championed the widow remarriage. And later on

Sarala as Sarala Roy ( one time President of AIWC)

proved herself to be a great champion of women's

rights. Even then her family gave priority to marriage

and did not think that a girl could continue her

education after marriage. Sarala's sister Abala, (later

Lady Abala Basu, wife of the scientist Sir Jagadish

Ch. Basu) could have been the first woman doctor if

she was not married off when half way through her

studies in medicine in Madras.

With Kadambini it was a different story altogether.

She passed the Entrance examination and was

admitted to Bethune College which started the

college section to accommodate her. In the year

1882, Kadambini and Chadramukhi Basu,

daughter of a Bengali Christian family, became

the first women graduates of the British empire.

She married Dwarakanath Ganguly in 1883. We

hear that this inter-caste marriage was not much to

the liking of her own community and was attended by

few. But this marriage proved a boon to her life and

her husband stopped short of nothing to further her

studies and fulfill her potentialities and ambitions.

Dwarakanath was a great champion of women's

cause, so much so that he used to be called

Abalabandhav (literally, a friend of the abala or the

weak as women were traditionally called).He had

been a teacher in Banga Mahila Vidyalaya where

Kadambini had studied.

Soon after her marriage Kadambini entered the

Bengal Medical College through a loophole in their

rules of admission with active help from her husband.

Till then Bengal Medical college did not admit

girls.The English were no less conservative than the

Indians on the matter. Kadambini had been earlier

refused admission when she applied for it after

passing the Entrance Examination. Abala Das too

had failed to get admission and went to Madras to

study medicine. It is not difficult to imagine the

degree of resentment created in the society when a

woman entered the precincts of an exclusive male

preserve and the general sense of shock that a

woman would be engaged in dissection of dead

bodies and the like.Unfortunately some of her

teachers shared this wrath and one of them, who

incidentally had a degree from England, deliberately

failed her by one mark in the final examination and

persisted in his stand

in spite of the Senate's request to review his

decision. However, the authorities at their own

discretion and power awarded her the title of

Graduate of Bengal Medical College and gave her

permission to practise as a doctor. Thus she

became the first Indian woman doctor to be

qualified in western medicine.

There were vicious personal attacks on her

character by a section of the press after she came

out of the medical college. Kadambini was not a

person to take it lying down. She lodged a

ROSHNI

41

defamation case against the editor of Bangabasi

News group and he had to serve six months'

sentence and pay a fine.

Strangely enough she received a very cold reception

even from the educated Hindu and Brahmo families

when she opened her own chamber. Hardly anybody

took notice of her. A woman doctor was still a paradox

to the society at large. Later on, even when she was

well established in her profession, she was

sometimes treated as no better than an untouchable

'Dhai'( women, mostly illiterate, who traditionally

helped women at child birth) by the families who

sought her help in distress.But she remained

undaunted.

Kadambini enlarged the area of her interests and

activities much beyond her profession as a doctor. In

1889 she was among the first-ever women delegates

in the Bombay session of the Congress.

Dwarakanath had fought for the right of women to be

representatives in the conference.In 1890 she

delivered a lecture in English at the Calcutta

Congress. She earned a name for herself as a fine

speaker.

!n 1892, she left for England for higher studies in

medicine. She was at the time a mother of five

children. She left them in the custody of her mother. It

is a pity that we have no way of knowing what her

mother felt about it all. But we can easily imagine that

but for an all-out support from her husband and the

rest of the family, it would have been impossible for

her to undertake this venture. She successfully

completed her studies from Edinburgh, Glasgow and

Dublin. On her return she was appointed in the post

of senior doctor in Lady Duffrin Hospital. After some

time she left the job to set up private practice. And

she became one of the leading medical practitioners

of the day. She was entrusted with the treatment of

the queen-mother of Nepal and after her recovery

Kadambini was showered with valuable gifts by the

royal family. This also started her close association

with them which lasted long.

She lost her husband in 1898.Thereafter along with

the pursuit of her professional life, singlehandedly

she looked after her nine minor children and catered

to all their needs. She meticulously carried on her

family obligations. She was a pleasant and delightful

hostess as some of her younger relatives have

recorded. She was deft in lace-making and could be

seen busy at it on her way to visit patients in a horse-

drawn carriage. And her commitments to the cause

of social justice ,which had been a major domain of

her husband's activities, expanded. In 1906, in the

restless years following the resistance movement to

Bengal partition, she actively participated in

organizing a women's conference in Calcutta. She

was a member of the Commission constituted to

enquire into the condition of women labours in Bihar

and Orissa.In 1908 she organized a meeting in

Calcutta to collect donations to help the satyagrahi

Indian workers in Transvaal, South Africa.Later she

became the first Chairperson of Transvaal Indian

Association founded by an associate of Gandhiji.

She is known to have chaired meetings of Sadharan

Brahmo Samaj.

What clearly comes out of this life-sketch is that

Kadambini did not believe in separate domains of

activities for men and women. In this she stood apart

from her compatriots and contemporaries. Women,

indeed a very few, had started taking up professions

though for a long time to come it was looked upon as

a humiliating thing in educated and progressive

families that their women would earn. Even the few of

Kadambini's contemporaries who took up jobs,

either never married or left their jobs after marriage.

No less a person than Chandramukhi Basu, one of

the first two women graduates, the first woman to

hold an M.A degree and become the Principal of

Bethune College left her job when she married. So

did the poet Kamini Roy who left her job at Bethune

College and even stopped writing poetry after she

married.

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42

So it is not difficult to understand why Kadambini

would be in the eyes of a storm in the contemporary

society. Kadambini was born in a society which was

in the pangs of a major change, a period of struggle

between o ld pre jud ices , p rac t ices and

liberal,humanistic ideals specially in the field of

women's question. It is true that the newly emerging

ideas of her age paved the way for Kadambini's

education but she went further and confronted her

age and defied the limits to women's emancipation

that circumscribed the most progressive thoughts of

the time. She opened new territories of activities for

women and lived a life of endless endeavours and

uncompromising courage .

Kadambini did not leave any account of her struggles

and her thoughts. What is equally to be regretted is

that her contemporaries who knew her closely had

remained silent about this extraordinary person.

Rabindranath used to visit their house .

Rabindranath's niece, the fire-brand Sarala Devi

Choudhurani knew her closely. Kadambini's step-

daughter was the wife of the celebrated children's

litterateur and innovator Upendrakishore Ray

Chowdhury (grandfather of the film-maestro Satyajit

Ray). But they have all remained silent about her.

Silence can at times be more harmful than open

criticism.

We are indeed left with a puzzling question. Did even

the exceptional personalities of the day feel uneasy

about this person who would not fit into any

stereotype, not even the generally, though often

grudgingly accepted picture of the educated

woman? Kadambini passed away in 1923 and had

worked till the last day of her life. The life Kadambini

lived will always carry a message of hope and

fortitude for the future generations of women. It

seems that at long last we are waking up to the

achievements of this extraordinary person and a

ripple of interest in her has recently been felt in the

academic circles.

Spring Young leaves grow green on the banyan twigs,

And red on the peepal tree,

The honey-birds pipe to the budding figs,

And honey blooms call the bee.

Poppies squander their fragile gold

In the Silvery aloe- brake

Coral and ivory lilies enfold

Their delicate lives on the lake

Kingfishers ruffle the feathery sedge.

And all the vivid air thrills

With butterfly —wings in the wild rose hedge,

And the luminous blue of the hills.

Kamala tinkles a lingering foot,

In the grove where temple-bells ring,

And Krishna plays on his bamboo flute

An idyl of love and spring.

-Sarojini Naidiu

ROSHNI

43

All the misery we experience can be attributed to our

failure to understand that true happiness can be

attained only when one is able to harmonise with the

best thing in him, with the Supreme Divinity, and not

with the brute. Happiness constantly eludes one who

is dominated by base instincts and in the process

suppressing the inner voice of conscience.

"We are all conscious that there is another inside of

us; that there accompanies us through life a divine,

silent messenger that higher, better self which

speaks from the depths of our nature and which

gives its consent, its 'Amen', to every right action and

condemns every wrong one," wrote Marden. Men

and women in all times have tried to attain happiness

by ignoring their conscience that keeps reviewing all

their good and bad actions on a constant basis.

Therefore, all efforts to buy its approval; to silence its

voice in nervous excitement; to drown it in pleasure,

with intoxicating substances are bound to go in vain.

The Supreme Being created us along the lines of

truth and justice; therefore, in order to gain true

happiness it is imperative that we do not violate the

laws that constitute the very core of our existence. So

long as we continue to indulge in negative practices,

for example, to earn money through unlawful means

by accepting bribe or exploiting others, so long as our

aspiration is to amass wealth by any possible means,

we can never attain true happiness, simply because

we have deviated from the path of righteousness.

In Search of Happiness- Anup Taneja

The thought that we can indulge in corrupt practices

and then beg the Lord's forgiveness through prayer

or by bathing in a holy river; the thought that we can

do wrong and be forgiven without atoning for wrong

actions, has done more harm than good. He who has

a clear conscience, leads a clean life, and is able to

obliterate the negative traits of selfishness, jealousy,

envy and hatred from the mind.

We tend to make happiness too complicated an

affair. Most people are governed by the

understanding that happiness can be derived by

doing something on a grand scale; from making a big

fortune; and from ostentatious display of wealth with

the purpose of showing off one's affluence and high

status in society. But happiness can be attained from

the simplest and most unpretentious things.

Pleasure can never be forced; it must come in a

natural way, from uncomplicated living.

One often hears the statement: "He has the money,

but cannot enjoy it."

Helping colleagues and friends without expecting

anything in return; acts of kindness towards animals;

conducting oneself with utmost humility;

performance of one's duties with utmost sincerity;

protecting the gifts bestowed upon us by bountiful

nature; living in a spirit of togetherness with fellow

beings all these are simple things, yet they are what

constitute true happiness. And this is what leads us

to bliss that lies within reach if only we knew how to

access it.

44

ROSHNI

It will take just 37 seconds to read this and change

your thinking..

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same

hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour

each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.

His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his

back.

The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes,

their jobs, their involvement in the military service,

where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the

window could sit up, he would pass the time by

describing to his roommate all the things he could

see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one

hour periods where his world would be broadened

and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the

world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake

Ducks and swans played on the water while children

sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in

arm amidst flowers of every colour and a fine view of

the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in

exquisite details, the man on the other side of the

room would close his eyes and imagine this

picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window

described a parade passing by.

Although the other man could not hear the band - he

could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the

window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.

Change Your Thinking

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for

their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by

the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital

attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man

asked if he could be moved next to the window. The

nurse was happy to make the switch, and after

making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one

elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window

besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall..

The man asked the nurse what could have

compelled his deceased roommate who had

described such wonderful things outside this

window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and

could not even see the wall.

She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.'

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others

happy, despite our own situations.

Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when

shared, is doubled.

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you

have that money can't buy.

'Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present .'

The origin of this letter is unknown, but it brings good

luck to everyone who passes it on.

Do not keep this letter.

I hope you will forward it to all your friends to whom

you wish blessings.

(Forwarded by Monica Khurana, AIWC Computer

Centre)

45

ROSHNI

Amongst essential things in life clothing and textile

hold a prominent place in our lives. To ensure the

longevity of textiles used in our day to day lives

whether carpets, rugs, fabrics, costumes, dresses,

shawls or saris it is important we understand about

its care and conservation.

Conservation is nothing but a process to protect,

preserve and document our heritage for the

generations to come. Although Textile Conservation

in India is still in it nascent stages, INTACH is

probably one of the only indigenous institutions to

venture into Textile Conservation, opening their

centre in Delhi in 2010.

Some tips mentioned below are exercised in many

conscientious households around the world.

Minimal Wear and Tear - Each piece should be

handled gently and with care, especially those that

are treasured for a purpose (heirloom, auction,

samplers, personal collection etc.).

· Usage of pins for saris and dresses and nails for

hanging tapestries should be avoided as far as

possible.

· Furniture base should have castor cups to

protect the pile of the carpets.

· Carpets and rugs should never be pulled from

beneath the furniture.

Protection from Light – Ultraviolet rays of the sun and

bright halogen lights can damage the fabric making it

brittle and fading its colour.

· Silk is most vulnerable to light and heat so

prevent it from direct sunlight.

· Turn around the carpet from time to time,

curtains or shades should be used.

· Avoid drying coloured clothes in direct sunlight.

Controlling temperature and humidity – Surprised to

know that temperature and humidity play an

important role in maintaining the health of Textiles!

Yes, high temperatures can shrink the fibers leading

Adding life to our Textiles

the fabric to become brittle while excess humidity

(65%) will swell the fibers resulting in the growth of

mould which lead to stains.

· Ideal storage temperature is 21° C and humidity

50%.

· In case of Zari (golden/ silver thread) used in

embroidery or weaving, steaming ironing should

be avoided as heat and humidity will turn it black.

Calendar finish or normal ironing is safer. A

pouch (muslin) of ajwain in the wardrobe to

prevent it from blackening.

Preventions from moulds, insects and pests -

Bacteria, moulds and insects like carpet beetles,

moths, silverfish and firebrats can cause damage to

all textiles such as holes, grazed areas and staining.

Damp conditions and the presence of protein-rich

materials such as starch and food stains increase the

risk of this type of damage.

· Regular cleaning of the storage place is a must.

· Maintain the humidity levels

· Non usage of chemical pest controls is a must,

however if you need to then a conservator must

be consulted.

· In case the fabric is infested, it should be vacuum

sealed and kept at freezing temperatures for a

few days to kill the pests and then brought back

to room temperature gradually however if there

are any eggs they should be removed before

freezing.

Handling stains - Stains are caused due to various

reasons in spite of care. It will not only cause

disfiguring but may also damage the fabrics fiber.

The longer a stain is left the more difficult it is to

remove. However one needs to be cautious when

handling stains as it is a complex activity. It depends

on the content of the stain and composition of the

fabric. Extra care is required for delicate fabrics.

Always remember to put a layer of clean cloth

between the layers of the fabric before cleaning.

46

ROSHNI

Paan (Betel leaf) Stains can be removed by using

curds or lime.

To avoid pure zari from turning black one can place a

small potli of ajwain in the cupboard. In case it is

tarnished and turned black it is advisable to get it

polished by professionals. However, gentle and

careful cleaning with white toothpaste using a very

soft tooth brush or white cloth can bring back the

shine and add the extra sparkle.

· In case of spillage on carpet, soak as much of the

spilled liquid as possible immediately using

absorbent white cloth or blotting paper. Do not

rub. Dilute the stain by more water and absorb,

repeat till there is no more spillage left on it. Air it

to dry and comb the pile in the direction of the

rest.

· Ink Stains - Permanent and ball point ink stains

can be removed using alcohol or nail polish

remover (do not use on delicate fabric like silk).

Water based ink stains can be removed by

spraying warm water and blotting it. Wash with

dish or clothes detergent.

· Oil stains can be effectively removed by using

dish soap or shampoo on the stained area. In

case of excess oil absorb by using tissues and or

sprinkling corn flour and leave it for about ½ hour

then wash using dish soap (liquid or powder) and

then wash normally.

· Wine stains - Red wine stains need to be

attended immediately and water is the best

solution. In case at a party, club soda or white

wine works perfectly. Pour any of these liquids

to dilute stain and absorb using clean cloth or

tissues working inwards to prevent from

spreading. In case of stubborn or old stains use

Vinegar, liquid soap and warm water in 1:1:2

proportions. White wine stains can be cleaned

using dish or clothes detergent.

Dust and Dirt – They are often acidic in natures and

attracts moisture and insects which

leads to damage and staining.m

· Maintaining a clean environment is a necessity.

· The carpets and display areas should be

vacuumed and cleaned from time to time.

· Fabrics can be stored in white cloth and wrapped

in poly bags to prevent the dust and dirt from

settling and staining the fabric.

Cleaning – Each textile requires individualised

cleaning technique.

· A mild detergent with lots of water is ideal.

· Dry cleaning is becoming a popular mode of

cleaning expensive textiles these days but in

case of antique ones please take the advice of a

conservator.

· Regular usage of chemicals and bleach can

cause damage to the fabric by weakening the

structure, loose colour and its lustre.

· Do not soak delicate fabrics they should be

cleaned with mild detergent.

· Woolens should be washed gently and dried

carefully to avoid shrinkage and stretching.

· Garments with zari should be dry cleaned only.

In case the pure zari turns black it should be

polished by professionals. However you can

clean silver zari using white tooth paste and a

soft brush or a white soft fabric very gently and

carefully.

Storage -

· Store items in a clean, cool, moderately dry, dark

place with a constant temperature and relative

humidity

· Make sure they are accessible for regular

inspection.

· The folds should be minimal and preferably

refolded differently after few months.

· Package and cover as much as possible to

protect from dust

· Ideally, there should be no strain on any one

particular area of cloth.

Compiled by Ritu Singhal - Alumnus of Sophia

Polytechnic, Mumbai. Textile Designer and

Researcher on heritage, conservation and revival of

traditional textiles.

47

ROSHNI

World Consumer Day was celebrated on 15th March 2012 at 2.30 p.m. in the library, at 6, Bhagwan Das

Road. The focus of the programm was consumer rights, consumer protection and consumer grievance

redressal. The President Smt Bina Jain in her welcome address stressed upon the need of awareness of

the consumer about his/her rights and available redressal mechanism. Dr Rajyalakshmi Rao, with her

vast experience during her work in National, State and District Consumer Courts spoke about the role of

the consumer in safe guarding consumer rights. According to Dr Rao the consumer has great power, but

the consumer does not use it. A simple letter by a consumer about his/her grievance can have far

reaching effect. She also made it appear that the process to file a complaint in a consumer court is not

difficult. Dr Rao has written an invaluable book CONSUMER IS KING, dealing with all kinds of consumer

cases, dealt and dispensed with in the court. It is a must read for all consumer activists.

After Dr Rajyalakshmi's very informative talk Dr Roopa Vajpayee, editor CONSUMER VOICE, and

Director Consumer Voice Education, made a power point presentation on POTATO CHIPS and DIET

COKE, and their hazardous health effects on children and adults. The presentation was extremely

relevant for our times when so much coke and chips are consumed at such a high price. Dr Vajpayee

distributed copies of latest issue of CONSUMER VOICE to all members present. Dr Sushma Yadav,

member Juvenile Justice Board, Govt of N.C.T. of Delhi, appraised the members about how a complaint

can be filed on plain paper in consumer court, and without any lawyer a consumer can directly approach

the court. Her talk was on CONSUMER PROTECTION. After the talks a question answer session

followed. It was a very Interactive and participatory program. A large number of member and branch

representative and guests of other organisations were present. Member In Charge, Consumer Affairs

Chandra Prabha Pandey coordinated the program and spoke about how in 1962 President John

Kennedy raised the question of consumer rights in the Senate of United States of America, and since then

World Consumer Day is celebrated on 15th March. It is CONSUMER INTERNATIONAL that gives a key

theme to work on, and this year the theme is financial literacy, with special reference to money transfer.

The program ended with a vote of thanks by AIWC General Secretary Smt Sheela Kakde.

World Consumer Day- by Chandra Prabha Pandey, Member-in-Charge consumer affairs

Farewell Bright shower of lambent butterflies, Soft cloud of

murmuring bees,

O fragile storm of sighing leaves

Adrift upon the breeze !

Wild birds with eager wings outspread

To seek alien sky.

Sweet comrades of a lyric spring

My little songs, good - bye !

- Sarojini Naidu

48

ROSHNI

Report on Side Events attended at COP 17, Durban

28 November, 2011 – 2 December, 2011- Usha Nair, Hon. Treasurer, AIWC

28 November, 2011

Side Event by The Energy and Resources Institute

(TERI)

Topic : International Confabulations and Sub-

national Actions : Showcasing India's Response to

Climate Change

Dr R K Pachauri, Chairman, IPCC chaired the

session. Other eminent speakers were Dr. Youba

Sokona, UN Economic Commission for Africa; Dr.

John Drexhage, International Council on Mining and

Metals; Dr. John Price, Centre for Low Carbon

Futures; and Dr. Jenifer Morgan, World Resources

Institute. They spoke on the commitments on

international negotiations and the inadequacy of

actions being taken by the countries.

Dr Arabinda Mishra, TERI presented a paper on what

the government is doing to deal with climate change

in India. The paper detailed the climate action plans

being prepared by every state, highlighting the

efforts at the sub-national level, that is, at the district

and municipal levels. Plans of six states were

considered in detail. One common conclusion was

that none of them indicate the source of funds for the

ambitious plans laid out.

This was followed by interaction with the audience. I

spoke on the importance of creating awareness at

the grassroot level. This was reported in a local

newspaper (SABC News) the next day. Excerpts

from the report -

Usha Nair of the All India Womens Conference,

which was also present at the discussions says most

rural communities in India do not understand

complicated terms such as "climate change" or

"carbon emissions". Nair says: 'What we do is we

relate their activities with what is happening around

them. Like there is drought, there are floods and

shortage of food. And then we tell them how some of

their actions are leading to this kind of a scenario,

where rains don't come in time or if it rains, it just

rains endlessly. So without using all these high

sounding terminologies we try to tell them how they

can be helpful in mitigating the carbon emissions.'

29 November, 2011

Side Event by Resource Africa

Topic : Taking Community Voices to COP17 through

the medium of Photo Stories

Resource Africa is a Pretoria based Not-For-Profit

organization that works with a range of global and

African partners to encourage and deliver new

models of natural resource management, based on

community participation in which the values of

transparency, equity and respect for local people,

their needs and customs, are uppermost.

Resource Africa in partnership with OSISA (Open

Space Initiative of Southern Africa) identified 5

country programmes where community experiences

were captured using photo stories. These photos

and stories are unique because they are captured by

the communities themselves using disposable

cameras. The objective of this programme was to

understand communi ty percept ions and

perspectives on climate change, climate hazards,

vulnerability and adaptation as well as to visually

present them using photo stories

The event was interesting and the stories of how

communities are coping with and adapting to climate

49

ROSHNI

change induced problems were inspiring. A detailed

report on the event has been prepared separately.

30 November, 2011

Side Event by GenderCC – in cooperation with the

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and

Development (APWLD)

Topic : Gender responsive adaptation and low

carbon development – including the role of rural and

indigenous women

Three women gave presentations on behalf of

GenderCC. Elizabeth Letlhaku from South Africa

talked about her experiences as a member of the

Siphephile Waste Recycling Co-operative, which

undertakes projects on recycling, waste

management and urban agriculture in. Ulamila

Wragg of the Cook Islands and Ruiti Uriano Aretaake

of Kiribati talked about adaptation and low carbon

development in the Pacific. Ulamila gave an

overview of GenderCC's three-year project on

gender in adaptation and low carbon development,

which is implemented and run by the Secretariat for

the Pacific Community. Ruiti then talked about

adaptation strategies in Kiribati, including alternative

ways in which women can earn income in response

to the changing climate. There were two

presentations on behalf of APWLD. Vernie Yocogan-

Diano gave a presentation on rual women's

adaptation strategies and indigenous practices in the

Philippines, while Kurukulasuriya Antanat Roshanthi

Fernando talked about the adaptation strategies of

women in small-scale fisheries in Sri Lanka.

30 November, 2011

Side Event by UN System

Topic : Mitigation actions

UN agencies provided comprehensive information

on how they can assist countries, in particular

developing countries, in their transformation to low

carbon economies. The event focused on three

broad and important areas in terms of emissions and

sustainable development: food, energy and

transport. Under the category 'Food', presenters

from FAO highlighted the significant transformation

that the sector would need to undergo and present

climate smart solutions at the level of practices,

policy and finance. Under 'Energy', it was pointed out

that efficiency improvements throughout the energy

system combined with accelerated market

penetration of low-carbon energy options are key

measures for effective GHG mitigation. 'Transport'

segment had presentations on current and predicted

transport emissions, how the world needs to move

into a multimodal integrated transport chain and

what actions developing and developed countries

would have to take to make this transition.

1 December, 2011

Side Event by Government of South Africa and

International Coastal and Ocean Organization (ICO)

Topic : Ensuring Survival: Oceans, Climate, and

Security

This event highlighted the direct link between climate

change, the health of the oceans and human

wellbeing, and the need for collaborative action and

sufficient funding for strategic mitigation and

adaptation measures to minimize climate change

impacts on coastal communities and ocean

resources. There was also a brief discussion about

the upcoming Rio+20 Summit in June, 2012.

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ROSHNI

2 December, 2011

Side Event by Climate Change Capacity

Development (C3D)

Topic : Strengthening Institutional Capacities for

Climate Change Research and Training

C3D is a knowledge and capacity development

network of six organisations from Asia, Africa,

Europe, the Pacific and the Caribbean. The aim of

the network is marrying climate information to

improvement of society. They presented case

studies of their tools which are used in vulnerability

assessment, improving livelihoods, developing

concrete adaptation plans etc.

2 December, 2011

Side Event by International Fund for Agricultural

Development

Topic : Climate-Smart Agriculture – a transformative

approach to food security, adaptation and mitigation

This event focused on the challenges posed by

climate change to food security and agriculture.

Occurrences of droughts and floods, river bank

erosion, sea level changes etc are causing untold

damages to crops and affecting farming systems.

One major issue in developing countries is the

shrinking per-head land area for agriculture. Another

major challenge is climate induced displacement of

humans. These result in the political issue of space.

Case studies brought out the many ways in which

people are adapting to these challenges to ensure

sustainable food security and poverty reduction.

There were cases of both types of adaptation –

planned as well as spontaneous. Integrated fish-

duck-vegetable farming, compartmental farming and

hanging vegetable gardens are some of the

innovative methods adopted by farmers to overcome

limited availability of land.

INFORSE side event

This event on 2 December, 2011 had presentations

from Africa and Asia by INFORSE and HELIO

Network members detailing real-life efforts to use

renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions for

GHG emission mitigation, development and poverty

reduction. Tools to climate-proof supporting energy

policies along with results from cases were included.

I gave a presentation on 'Poverty alleviation through

Renewable Energy Technology'. This is put up on the

w e b - s i t e s o f U N F C C / C O P 1 7

(http://regserver.unfccc.int/seors/reports/events_list

.html?session_id=COP17/CMP7) and INFORSE

(http://www.inforse.dk/europe/conf11_COP17.htm).

INFORSE stall at Exhibition

AIWC poster, brochure etc were displayed

prominently at the stall no. 85 of INFORSE.

Gender and COP 17

In November 2011, before COP17 in Durban, the

UNFCCC Secretariat has officially recognized the

women and gender NGOs as a constituency of its

own.

The Constituency was active throughout COP17.

The Women and Gender Caucus – involving both

Constituency members and others interested in

gender – met daily to discuss progress in the

negotiations, and gender issues and events at the

COP. Some caucus members formed working

groups to further discuss specific topics, including

mitigation, adaptation, finance and feminist

approaches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_det

ailpage&v=7eHUSJUOLJ8 shows a video of one of

the daily meetings (attended by me) where women

are singing joyously an African song that means

“This world belongs to us and we are not going to

give it up!”

The words of the song sum up the concern of the

women of the world about climate change and

exhorts us to start acting NOW to save the earth.

51

ROSHNI

Agra Cantt Branch : All India Women's Conference

Agra, has touched a few milestones on its onward

journey on the path of sincere commitments to the

Society. The branch has organised many activities

during this period. Independence day was celebrated at

Shri Ram Hari Vidayalaya, Agra on 15th of August at

9:00 a.m. Students of the School gave a cultural

programme. Mrs. Rajkumari Sharma, our standing

committee member gave a speech on Independence

Day which was very encouraging for the students. After

the function fruits and sweets were distributed to all the

children from AIWC.

Teachers Day Celebration The organisation

celebrated Teachers Day at Shri Gopichand Shivrey

Sanatham Dharm Kanya Inter College, Taj Road, Agra

Students sang group songs. Dr. Shashi Goyal,

Vice-President of AIWC spoke on Teachers Day. Four

best.

Teachers were felicitated. Prizes were given to those

students who stood first in the board examination. Dr.

Shail Bala and Mrs. Saroj Goriyal also spoke on that

occasion.

Talk on "Joint Pains" Talk on Joint Pains and other

related problems was organised on 29th of Sep. 2011 at

Agra club for all the members. Dr. Kavita Goyal doctor

in Auryurveda showed a film and explained in detail the

prevention of joint pains. She also explained about the

treatment body aches and pains in the joint.

Gandhi Jayanti Celebration As part of the charity

activities the members decided to visit Mother Terassa

Home on Gandhi Jayanti : The Programme started at

10:30 am with prayer. Then two members spoke on

Mahatma Gandhi. After that all the items like surf, Soap,

Paste, Rice, Sugar, milk powder, and mustard oil were

given for the inmates of the home.

Awareness Programme on Healthy Environment

Branch Activities

Awareness programme on "Healthy Environment"

was organised in collaboration with AIWC Delhi. The

programme was organised at Sumit Rahul Goel

Memorial Senior Secondary School in which about

300 students took part. Mrs. Manju Mittal, President

AIWC Agra Cantt delivered the welcome speech.

Ms. Madhu Bhatnagar Head of Environment

Programme Shri Ram Schools, Delhi/Gurgaon and

recipient of Green Teacher National Award by

Sanctuary Asia was the main speaker. Two speaker

Dr. Sant Prakash Head of Zoology Department,

D.E.I. and active members of "SPHEEHA" (Society

of Preservation of Healthy Environment) and Dr.

Rohit Srivastava Assistant Professor in Chemistry

Deptt. and member of SPHEEHA were there for

Panel Discussion. Painting Competition on Healthy

Environment was also held in which about 100

students took part. There were three groups

according to the age for the competition. Winners

were given prizes. Dr. Saroj Prashant, Secy. AIWC

gave a vote of thanks.

Gender Sensitization Programme Gender

Sensitization programme was organised in

collaboration with AIWC New Delhi. The programme

was held at Babu Nagar village on 29th of Nov. 2011.

Dr. Saroj Prashant, Secy. AIWC Agra branch

52

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welcomed all the guests. Programme started with

Nukkar Natak. There were about 170 participants

who attended the programme. Mrs. Sujata Abhijat

wife of Commissioner Agra Division was the Chief

guest on that occasion. Mrs. Subhashni Paliwal,

Deputy Director education, Agra, Miss Kamlesh

gupta, District Programme Officer and Dr. Abhilasha

Prakash, Director of Abhilasha Nursing Home were

the three speakers.

Calcutta South Branch : The Branch conducted an

Awareness Programme on 'Breast Cancer and

Cervical Cancer' with its Ballygunge Constituent

Branch on 24th December 2011. The resource

persons were doctors from the Indian Cancer

Society and Thakurpukur Cancer Welfare

Association. The programme was sanctioned by the

Central Officer. The Zonal Organiser Smt. Sikha

Mitra was present on the occasion. Dr. Arunava

Sengupta, Oncologist, Indian Cancer Society spoke

of Breast Cancer. He explained how early detection

can completely cure a person. Dr. N. R. Mondal,

Gynaecological Oncologist spoke on Cervical

Cancer. He said it is a life style disease which can be

prevented. It takes a 10 year period to develop into

cancer. The lecture was followed by interactive

sessions.

Republic Day was observed with flag hoisting

followed by the little children of the two crèches run

by the Branch.

Members of the Branch attended the State

Convention of Federation of Consumer's

Association in February at Yuva Bharati Krirangan.

The branch is a member of the Association.

Problems relating to telephones, mobiles, financial

investments were discussed and consumers were

briefed on the steps to be taken when such problems

arose. Resource persons made PowerPoint

presentation and clarified doubts.

Members of the Branch attended a workshop on

“Trafficking on Women and Child- A Social

Challenge”. It was organised by the State Welfare

Board on 23-24 February.

The Annual Fund Raising programme was organised

on 3rd March and the Branch organised an exhibition

on 15th & 16th March. The products of the Industrial

section of the branch were sold. Outsiders also

participated as it is also a fund raising activity to carry

out the work of the Branch.

Women's Day was observed by the members of the

Branch.

The Branch is carrying out its usual activities

dedicated and sincere efforts of the members.

Calicut Branch : A general body meeting was held

at Alkapuri on 30-12-2011 to celebrate Christmas

and New Year and also to elect the new office

bearers.

The program started at 3.00 PM with a prayer by

Smt. Prasanna Ramakrishnan and Chitra K Kutty.

Secretary Urmila Valsan delivered the welcome

speech. President Smt. Santha Nair gave a brief

history of AIWC and detailed account of our chapter's

last three years activities. Ex Mayor Thottathil

Ravindran inaugurated the function. He expressed

his happiness in the working of our chapter and our

charitable activities. Smt. Neela Foflia came as

Santa and gave out presents to everyone. Zonal

organizer Smt. Gouri Adiyodi gave the felicitation.

53

ROSHNI

Smt. Nirmala Erady proposed the vote of thanks.

Various games were arranged after the function.

On Jan 24th 2012 we celebrated Balikadinam at

Govt. Achuthan Girls Higher Secondary School,

Chalapuram. Our Chief Guest for the function was

Dr. Padmini Ramachandran (Retd HOD of Govt. Arts

and Science College). Participants were High school

and Higher Secondary Students along with their

parents. Dr. Padmini's talk was well appreciated and

she also created awareness among parents.

On26th January we celebrated Republic Day.

President Smt. Santha Nair hoisted the flag at

N.M.U.P. High School Panniankara, and distributed

sweets

On 29th we conducted Osteoporosis Camp at

Zamorin's Higher Secondary School, Tali. Dr. Nabeel

Muhammed from MIMS hospital examined the

patients. Abbot Company supplied the technicians

and the instruments. The doctor also took classes on

food we need and how to prevent osteoporosis.

Audience asked Questions and he gave relevant

answers and advices. 84 people benefited from the

camp.

On February 5th, our President Mrs. Santha Nair and

Members Chitra K Kutty and Nandini Bhaskar visited

the orphanage run by the sisters of St. Vincent

Institution. They have children who are of 2-3 years

of age for adoption as well as mentally challenged

women and destitute girls. These girls are given

training for embroidery and tailoring, sponsored by

our member Smt. Nandini Bhaskar on her

granddaughter's birthday.

On February 10th, four of our committee members

visited pain and palliative centre at Beypore. Mrs

Sarojini is the president of the centre. She explained

the activities of the centre. The cancer patients are

visited once in a week. AIWC promised to give rice on

all festival days.

On 26th February a free Ayurvedic camp was

conducted at CCAT Ayurvedic centre. President

presided the camp. Ex-minister and patron Smt. M.

T. Padma inaugurated the camp. Sri. V.U. Erady

gave a nice talk about Ayurveda by felicitating the

camp. There were three Ayurvedic doctors who

examined the patients. 84 people benefited from the

camp. Smt. Nirmala Erady donated medicines for the

deserving patients.

On March 8th we celebrated International Women's

Day at Hotel Alkapuri. Adv. Leelavathy, Dr.

Radhamani and Dr. Sumathy Haridas were the

speaker for the day. Meeting started with prayer by

Mrs. Prasanna Ramakrishnan. Secretary Nirmala

Erady welcomed the gathering. Adv. Leelavathy who

is the first lady advocate lady in Calicut inaugurated

the seminar. The subject for the seminar was

“Atrocity against Women”. Leelavathy in her speech

told the all legal matters of crime against women.

She emphasized the women has the right to take

decisions and to take action in the legal framework.

Dr. Sumathi Haridas, former Principal of

Guruvayuppan College and a social activist talked

about how women should take action for cruelty

against them. Dr. Radhamani, Hindi scholar, spoke

about the usage of internet, mobile phones and

drugs among college and school going girls. After

that members interacted with the speakers.

Delhi South West Branch : SWEDWA (South West

Delhi Women's Association) conducted the following

awareness Programs for Women of Weaker

sections.

Legal awareness at Palam Gaon

Availing Police Assistanct, at Vasant Gaon

Environment issues at Kalkaji

Health issues at Chanakyapuri

Special Free Eye Care Camp was held at Vasant

Gaon

Two month training in use of Solar Technologies for

54

ROSHNI

income generation sponsored by MNRE, was

conducted in Dakshinpuri.

Free Health Camp on Anemia at Palamgaon,

Sangamvihar, Nebsarai, Ambetnagar, Jerada gaon

and, Vasantgaon

A mega Medical Camp was held at Dakshinpuri on

19th November which attracted a big group of men,

women & children. In addition to overall check-up,

tests for Blood Sugar, B. P. Anemia and nervous

ailments were done. Free medicines were

distributed.

Specialist doctors Dr. Tripti Srivastava and Dr.

Chetan Grover attended to the Patients who came in

an unending stream.

In conclusion nutritious food packets were

distributed in all the participants.

As per WHO and Health Ministry reports, womens

health and hygiene is in pathetic state in Indian.

Unavailability of low-cost sanitary napkins is a major

factor for this in addition to lack of awareness. The

new machines developed to make sanitary napkins

is a major factor for dealing with this.

There machines were installed by SWEDNA and 40

to 60 women were trained on these machines over

the past 3 years. These machines are used to

manufacture low cost sanitary napkins which are

being supplied to some of the hospitals and girls

hostels in Delhi.

Under Family counseling and mediation - SWEDNA

has provided support in more that 200 cases wherein

compromise has been reached between both

parties. Now Mrs. Medhiratta Subhra, a practicing

Lawyer has agreed to examine the cases at least

thrice a month, at Vasant Gaon and Palam Gaon.

A Number of Solar Energy fairs were conducted in

Delhi, during which Lectures - cum - Demonstration

were held and various Devices were introduced, e.g.

Solar Lanterns and Solar Cookers. After our training

women of poor househols are erasing income by

hiring lanterns to vendors and selling purified water.

Gulmohar Mahila Mandal, Juhu Branch :

Gulmohur Mahila Mandal, Juhu,AIWC celebrated its

Silver Jubilee at the Dinanath Mangeshkar Hall, Vile

Parle East, Mumbai on 12th February,2012. This

function was celebrated under the leadership of Dr

(Mrs) Nirmala Periwal, President, Gulmohur. The

Chief Guest at this function was a renowned

personality from the medical fraternity Dr Indira

Hinduja, Obstesrician and Gynaecologist, who gave

India the first test tube baby in 1982.

In her inaugural speech Dr Indira Hinduja blessed

the Branch and said that we are really lucky to be a

part of AIWC which is doing such wonderful work all

over the country.

It was also attended by the Secretary General,

AIWC, Mrs Sheela Kakde, Honorary Treasurer,

AIWC Mrs Usha Nair, Western Zone Organiser,

AIWC , Mrs Rekha Sali and the Mumbai Branch

AIWC President, Dr ( Mrs) Rekha Gosalia. A large

number of dignitaries from the Mumbai Branch AIWC

and the Presidents and members of all the Branches

and the Projects of the Mumbai Branch attended this

function.

The Secretary General AIWC, Mrs Sheela Kakde

and Treasurer Ms. Usha Nair addressed the group.

They stressed that members must be aware of their

fundamental rights like voting and also educate them

for the same.

As the Gulmohur Branch is doing the unique work of

Cornea Transplant, inaugural ceremony was

followed by an Orchestra Programme by UDAAN. All

the artists in the Orchestra are visually impaired and

physically handicapped. One item which enthralled

the entire crowd, was by Miss Manisha who

unfortunately has only one foot. But she gave a

scintillating solo dance performance which lasted

for nine minutes. At the end of her performance,

55

ROSHNI

there was a thunderous round of applause from the

audience.

Gujrat Branch : The annual conference of Gujrat

Branch of AIWC was held at Mehsana (in North

Gujrat) on 13th November, 2011. About 228

representatives from different branches of Gujrat,

were present there. Some small branches

represented the glimpses of the activities done at

their branches. Looking to the work executed, during

last two years, different Awards were given to the

deserving individuals and branches. Shaurya Award

was given to Reshma Rangrej - a house wife, who

got her husband arrested by police for terrorist

activity. He was to execute a bomb blast in

Ahmedabad. Around Rs. 30,000/- (Rs. Thirty

Thousand) were collected there and then for

Reshma and her children.

The Baroda Branch give a programme on

Adolescent while Bruhad Surat branch gave a

programme on ‘Communal Harmony’. Ahmedabad

and Ellisbridge branch organized ‘Eye Camp’.

Navsari and Dahod Branch arranged ‘Rubela

Camp’. The Khambhat, Surat, Vallabhvidyanagar

and Maninagar Branch arranged ‘Bal Shibir’. The

El l isbr idge Branch has recent ly started

“Homeopathic Clinic’.

The Bardoli Branch has organized two ‘Child Health

Care’ centres. Financial assistance by AIWC has

been obtained for this activity. The Visnagar Branch

have organized Anemia Camp. Sojitra branch had

medical camp. Thus various branches had a health

programme, awareness programme and seasonal

and various routine programme.

The students get financial assistance for further

studies in higher education by the by “Foundation for

Excellency”. We are thankful for the same.

Pathankot Branch : Two Awareness Generation

Programme Camps for Rural and Poor Women were

held on 28-03-2011 for 8 days each. First Camp was

held at Village Khanpur which was inaugurated by

Sh. Mohan Lal, Transport Minister, Punjab

Government as Chief Guest and the Second Camp

at Village Nangal Bhur was inaugurated by Sh. S. K.

Punj, Chancellor Sri Sai University along-with Sh.

Ashok Sharma Ex. MLA, Pathankot. Key Speaker

like Specialist Doctors, Advocates, C.D.P.O., Deptt.

of Social Welfare, Teachers knowing handcraft,

Social Workers etc; took up the subjects such as,

Free Legal Aid, Sources of protection for Women,

Drug Addiction, Female Foeticide, AIDS, Local level

handcrafts for Self Help for women, Sanitation,

Protection of environment etc. These proved very

beneficial for the women folk attending the camp as

was revealed at the time of follow up done after one

month of each camp.

Women’s Day on 08-03-11 gained importance when

the Additional Senior Sub-judge Pathankot attended

As Chief Guest along-with the Civil judge Division

Pathankot and some Advocates and imparted

awareness on NRI marriages, Exploitation of women

in society, Free Legal Aid Etc:, They admired

functioning of AIWC Pathankot particularly the

reputation enjoyed by the Family Counseling Centre

sponsored by the Social Welfare Board and run by

our organization. Number of complicated Family

disputes were settled by counselling in this centre.

Among Permanent Projects, Family Counseling

Centre functioning for tha last 15 years is a great

help, as is setting up of Two sewing Centres for poor

women and adoption of poor girls for study.

Palakkad Branch : New year celebrations were

held in a grand manner with interesting games like

Tambola. A free dental, camp was organized on 16th

March, 2011 at G.L.P. School; Harikkara Street,

Palakkad. The Dentist Dr. Thamhi Mathew examined

43 students of the said school. Tooth Brushes were

given free for all also medicines / other treatment for

the needy. Arrangements were made for effective

56

ROSHNI

follow up. Ayurvedic Camp was arranged at

Harikkara St. G.L.P. School, Sr. Ayurvedic Physician

Dr. Harikrishnan conducted the programme giving

valuable advices on arthritis and keeping the body

healthy, Participants' doubts were cleared to their

satisfaction. An amount of Rs. 1000/- was given to

Devassrya for helping poor people requiring

Dialysis, Financial Assistance of Rs. 3,000/- was

given to (1) Vipindas, 11th standard student of

Sravana Samsara School and (2) Vidya, B.Com.

Final Year student of Coop. College, Palakkad.

Nesley magic cooking demonstration was held on

30.07.2011. Various dishes were prepared with full

participation of members. A Fashion Design

Programme was arranged with the help of mass

fashion designers. Onam celebrations were held in

a grand manner. In addition to usual entertainment

programmes like Mohiniyattam, Kaikottikali etc. by

our members and their children, a grand Ganamela

was also arranged. A quiz competition for High

School Girl students has been conducted on

26.11.2011 a few schools participated. The rolling

trophy was given to the school which secured the first

position.

Against the GrainPUTTING ON a lot of weight? What's the first thing that you drop from your diet? Rice, of course. So

chapatis it is - day after day, month after month. Till you start getting a bloated feeling, only to realise that

perhaps you are becoming wheat intolerant.

This, say experts is an increasing phenomenon. Nutritionist Ishi Khosla, who has written Is Wheat Killing

You?, says: "From being dependent on only one kind of cereal to the kind of wheat available, developing

wheat intolerance is common now." So what are the alternatives?

BROWN RICE: Excellent source of magnesium, iron, selenium, manganese and vitamins B1, B2, B3 and

B6 Also a good source of dietary fibre and protein. While you can eat it as rice, it works as flour too.

CORN / MAIZE: A great way to check dia-betes and also good for preventing heart ailments, hypertension

etc. Corn or maize not only provides the necessary calories for daily metabolism, but is a rich source of

vitamins A, B, E and many minerals.

QUINOA: This South American grain is gluten-free and very high in protein. It's also high in iron and

calcium, and is a good source of manganese, magnesium and copper, as well as fibre.

OATS: Oats are very popular as a breakfast item because of their high nutritional value. Oats are rich in

protein, calcium, fibre and vitamin E, and are an excellent dietary supplement as well.

BARLEY: This wholegrain food is high in soluble fibre and can reduce blood cholesterol and blood

glucose levels. Barley is also low in fat. It is used as a thickener for* soups and stews, and also in baked

goods. Cooked pearl barley added to a salad provides extra fibre.

MILLETS THESE INCORPORATE THREE MAIN ELEMENTS:

JOWAR: Contains nutrients like vitamins B and E, magnesium, fibre and iron, along with antioxidants. It

prevents cardiovascular disease and reduces cholesterol. Jowar is also good for weight loss since it has

fibre that delays hunger.

BSJRS: Pearl miilet or bajra is nutritious and a gluten-free grain. It is rich in vitamins, minerals, starch,

amino acids, protein and fibre. It's recommended for those suffering from constipation and ulcers.

RAGI: Is one of the most nutritious millets and easy to digest. It is rich in calcium fibre, protein, iron, etc.

This low-fat cereal con tributes towards bone health, and helps to fight anxiety, insomnia and depression.

57

vkids lkSan;Z esa rHkh pkj pkan yxsaxs tc

vkihd vka[ksa Hkh LoLFk gksa vkSj vka[kksa dks

LoLFk j[kus ds fy, t:jh gS dqN [kkal

ckrksa dk /;ku j[kuk----

vka[kksa dks LoLFk o pednkj cuk, j[kus ds fy,

mudh fu;fer ns[kHkky t:jh gS] budh NksVh

NksVh ijs'kkuh Hkh lh/ks gekjh nwj o ikl dh phtsa

ns[kus dh {kerk dks izHkkfor djrh gS]

ifj.kkeLo:i ge vius jkstejkZ ds dke mruh

QqrhZ vkSj n{krk ls ugha dj ikrs ftruk fd igys

dj ikrs Fks] vka[kksa dh mfpr ns[kHkky u gksus ij

dqN yksx va/ksiu ds f'kdkj Hkh gks tkrs gSaA

vxj vkidh vka[kssa iw.kZr;k LoLFk gSa] rks Hkh

vkidks mudh ns[kHkky djus dh t:jr gS rkfd

utj detksj gksus ij egaxs mudj.kksa ;kfu p'ek

o dkWUVSDV ySal oxSjg o egaxs mipkj tSls fd

ltZjh vkfn ls cpk tk ldsA ofj"B us= jksx

fo'ks"kK Mk0 fo".kq xqIrk ls gqbZ ckrphr ds

vk/kkj ij ge vkidks us= jksxksa ls cpus ds dqN

fVIl crk jgs gSaA

i<+rs le; & i<+rs le; lcls T;knk dke vka[kksa

dks djuk iM+rk gS] blfy, i<+rs le; fuEu ckrksa

dk /;ku j[ksa rkfd vkidh vka[kksa ij vfrfjDr

ncko u iM+s%

• dHkh Hkh dej ds cy lh/ks ysVdj fQj

v/kysVh eqnzk esa u i<sa+A ;g iksLpj gekjh

vka[kksa dks izHkkfor djrk gSA

• fdrkc vkSj vka[kksa ds chp dh nwjh de ls

de 25 lSaVhehVj gksuh pkfg,A

vka[kksa dh ns[kkHkky

• /;ku jgs] i;<+us ds fy, i;kZIr jks'kuh

vko';d gS] /kqa/kyh jks'kuh esa i<+us dk iz;kl

u djsaA blls vka[kksa ij vf/kd tksj iM+rk

gSA

• pyrh cl ;k Vªsu esa iqLrd ;k v[kckj u

i<+saA

• i<+rs le; gekjh vka[ksa vf/kd lfØ; jgrh

gSaA blh lfØ;rk ds pyrs i<+rs le; gekjh

iydsa >idus dk vkSlr lkekU; vkSlr ls

dkQh de gks tkrk gSA lkekU; fLFkfr esa ge

izfr feuV 22 ckj iyd >idkrs gSa] ysfdu

i<+rs le; ;g vkSlr flQZ 10&12 gh jg

tkrk gS] iyd >idkus dk vkSlr ?kVrs gh

vka[kksa esa vkus okyh vkalqvksa dh ijr mM+us

yxrh gS vkSj oks lw[ksiu dk f'kdkj gks tkrh

gS] ftlds ifj.kkeLo:i vka[kksa esa [kqtyh

vkSj tyu ds lkFklkFk ikuh vkus dh

f'kdklr Hkh gks ldrh gSA

• fdlh nwj dh oLrq dks VkxsZV cukdj mls nsj

rd ns[ksaA

Vsyhfotu ns[krs le; &

• VSyhfotu ns[kus ds fy, de ls de 6 QqV

dh nwjh ij cSBsaA

• vxj vkidks vf/kd le; dEI;wVj ij dke

djuk gksrk gS] rks ,aVhfj¶ySD'ku dksVsM

Xyklst dk iz;ksx djsa] blls vka[kksa ij

vf/kd tksj ugha iM+sxkA

• chp chp esa dke jksd dj vka[ksa can dj

FksM+h nsj ds fy, mUgsa vkjke nsaA

jks'kuh

58

jks'kuh

• nqifg;k okgu pykrs le; /kwy o feV~Vh ds

d.kksa o rst jks'kuh ls vka[kksa dks cpkus ds

fy, ,aVhXys;j p'ek t:j igusaA

• vxj vki dSfedy ls tqM+k dksbZ dke djrs

gSa rks dke djrs le; viuh vka[kksa ij ges'kk

xkSxYl igusa vkSj dSfedy ds cgqr ikl u

tk;saA

Fkdku nwj djus ds fy, &

• fnu esa 2&3 ckj vka[kksa ij BaMs ikuh ds NhaV

ekjsaA

• viuh nksuksa gFksfy;ksa dks rc rd jxM+sa tc

rd fd oks xje u gks tk;sa vkSj fQj mUgs 60

lSdaM rd viuh vka[kksa ij j[ksaA bl nkSjku

vius eu esa 1 ls 60 rd fxurh fxusaA bl

fØ;k dks 2&3 ckj nksgjk;saA blls vkidh

Fkdh gqbZ vka[kksa dks jkgr feysxhA

• tcHkh ?kj ds ckgj tk,a gjs Hkjs iks/kkSa dks

,dVd ns[ksa] gjk jax vka[kksa dks cgqr lqdwu

nsrk gSA vxj vki T;knk le; rd

,;jdaMh'ku esa cSBrs gSa rks ikuh dh deh ls

vka[ksa lwth lwth lh yxrh gSa] blfy, T;knk

ls T;knk ikuh fi,a] fnu esa de ls de 10

fxykl

[kkuiku &

vka[kksa esa ped ykus ds fy,Hkktu esa foVkfeu

,] lh vkSj bZ vf/kd ek=k esa ysa] ;kuh j[knkj

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• [kkus esa dkcksZgkbMsªV vf/kd ek=k esa ysa] de

dkcksZgkbMsªV okyh MkbV ysus ls 'kjhj esa ikuh

dh ek=k de gks tkrh gS] ftlls vka[kksa dh

ped ij vlj iM+rk gS] vxj vki de

dkcksZgkbMsªV okyh MkbV ys jgs gSa

?kjsyw uqL[ks &

• vka[kksa ij dPps vkyw ds xksy VqdM+s j[kdj

20 feuV rd vka[ksa can dj ysVsa] blls vka[kksa

ds vkl ikl ds dkys ?ksjs Hkh nwj gks tk;saxsA

• 2 osLV Vh cSXl iz;ksx ds ckn lqcg dke ij

fudyrs le; fQzt esa yxk nsa] ?kj ykSVus ij

mudks can vka[kksa ij j[kdj FkksM+h nsj vkjke

djsaA

• fnu Hkj dh Fkdh vka[kksa dks vkjke nsus ds

fy, BaMs nw/k esa Hkhxs o fupqM+s gq, dkVu iSM

vka[kksa ij j[ksaA

• [khjs ds xksy VqdM+s Hkh 20 feuV rd vka[kksa

ij j[ks tk ldrs gSaA

• 1 pEep lw[kk vkaoyk jkr Hkj ikuh esa fHkxks

dj j[ksa vkSj vxys fnu lqcg eyey ds

diM+s ls Nku dj bl ikuh esa 1 di ikuh

vkSj feyk dj bl ikuh ls jkst vka[ksa /kks;saA

• vxj vkidh vka[ksa yky gSa vkSj mu esa tyu

eglwl gksrh gS rks flj ds ngh ls ekfy'k

djsaA

• vU; /;ku nsus ;ksX; ckrsa &

• vka[kksa dh dksbZ Hkh Mªki [kjhnrs le; mldh

,Dlikbjh MsV vo'; psd djsaA

• vka[kksa dh nok dh 'kh'kh dk iz;ksx [kksyus

dh frfFk ls 1 eghus ds Hkhrj gh djsaA

Courtesy x`g'kksHkk March 2012

59

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tcyiqj 'kk[kk % tcyiqj 'kk[kk }kjk viuh iwoZ

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laLFkk }kjk ns'k Hkj esa yxkrkj gks jgh dU;k Hkwz.k

gR;k ds ifj.kkeLo:i yM+fd;ksa dh la[;k esa vk

jgh Hkkjh fxjkoV ¼fo'ks"kdj e/; izns'k] fcgkj]

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vfHk;ku dh vy[k txkus ds mn~ns'; ls

fo|ky;hu ,oa egkfo|ky;hu Lrj ij ^^csVs ls

csVh Hkyh** fo"k; ij fuca/k izfr;ksfxrk ,oa mDr

nksuksa Lrj ij fp=dyk izfr;ksfxrk ¼fo"k;&dU;k

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Jherh eerk 'kekZ&v/;{k jk"Vªh; efgyk vk;ksx]

fof'k"V vfrfFk Jh 'kjn~ ;kno&jk"Vªh; v/;{k

turk ny ;qukbVsM rFkk laLFkk v/;{k&Jherh

'ksHkk csu iVsy }kjk Jherh iVsfj;k ds fp= ds

le{k }hi izTtofyr dj iq"ikatfy vfiZr dh

xbZA dk;ZØe ls iwoZ laLFkk }kjk vk;ksftr

fp=dyk izfr;ksfxrk esa Hkkx ysus okys cPpksa }kjk

cuk;s x;s fp=ksa dh izn'kZuh yxkbZ xbZA ftldk

mn~?kkVu flus vfHkusrk j?kqohj ;kno us fd;kA

Jherh eerk 'kekZ us vius mn~cks/ku esa dgk fd

tc rd lekt esa efgyk dks vkRecy ugha fn;k

tk;sxk rc rd lekt rjDdh ugha dj ldrk

blds lkFk gh mUgksaus dgk fd csfV;ksa dks vkxs

c<+kus esa iwjs ifjokj dk ;ksxnku t:jh crk;kA

Jh 'kjn~ ;kno us vius mn~cks/ku esa dgk vxj

gesa lekt ls dU;k Hkwz.k gR;k dks jksduk gS rks

bldh ewy leL;k ngst dks tM+ ls m[kkM+ Qsaduk

gksxkA mUgksaus dgk vc le; vk x;k gS fd ge

csVs&csVh esa HksnHkko [kRe djsa vkSj csfV;ksa dks

vkxs c<+us] izfrHkk dks fu[kkjus dk iwjk volj

nsuk gksxkA dk;ZØe esa vusd jaxkjax dk;ZØe

izLrqr fd;s x;sA laLFkk }kjk lekt lsok ds {ks=

esa viuk egRoiw.kZ ;ksxnku nsus okyh efgyk

gfLr;ksa dks Jherh iVsfj;k Le`fr ukjh jRu

vyadj.k ls lEekfur fd;k x;k ftlesa Jherh

iVsfj;k dh xq# o;kso`) laxhrfon~ Jherh xk;=h

uk;d] lqJh foeyk oekZ] iwoZ ea=h&e/; izns'k

'kklu rFkk lektlsoh Jherh jkejkuh tkSgj] iwoZ

fo/kk;d&dVuhA laLFkk }kjk fuca/k ,oa fp=dyk

izfr;ksfxrk ds fotsrkvksa dks yxHkx 8]000 #- ds

udn iqjLdkj iznku fd;s x;sA blds lkFk gh

laLFkk lfpo Jherh xhrk 'kjr~ frokjh }kjk

izfro"kZ fo|ky;hu ,oa egkfo|ky;hu Lrj dh nks

izfrHkk lEiUu fdUrq lk/kughu i<+kbZ ds izfr

#>ku j[kus okyh ckfydkvksa dks Jherh iVsfj;k

Le`fr esa Nk=o`fRr fn;s tkus dh ?kks"k.kk dh

xbZAfoxr 6 ekg esa fd;s x;s dk;ZØe bl izdkj

gSa& fo'o Lruiku lIrkg&laLFkk }kjk vius

ikyuk?kjksa ,oa 'kgj ds fofHkUu vkaxuokfM+;ksa esa

tkdj thou ve`r dk;ZØe ds varxZr pkVZ ,oa

iksLVj izn'kZuh ds ek/;e ls ekrkvksa dks tkudkjh

60

jks'kuh

nh xbZA rsoj esa fo'o lk{kjrk fnol dk vk;kstu

dj lk{kjrk ds #>ku ,oa izfr'kr dks c<+kus gsrq

efgykvksa ds fopkj tkus rFkk laLFkk inkf/kdkfj;ksa

}kjk vius fopkj izLrqr fd;s x;sA fgUnh fnol

ds volj ij fo|ky;hu Lrj ls gh ekr`Hkk"kk ds

izfr lEeku ,oa #fp dks cuk;s j[kus gsrq ,d

fnolh; dk;ZØe ̂ ^fgUnh vkSj ge** dk vk;kstu

fd;k x;kA efgykvksa esa foHkUu O;olk;ksa ds izfr

tkx:drk ykus rFkk [kkyh le; dk mi;ksx

djrs gq, isij cSx ,oa eksecRrh cukus dk

izf'k{k.k fn;k x;kA ifj"kn }kjk dk;Zjr~ efgykvksa

gsrq loZlqfo/kk;qDr olfrx`g dk lapkyu foxr

33 o"kks± ls lQyrkiwoZd fd;k tk jgk gSA laLFkk

}kjk foxr 36 o"kks± ls uxj ds fofHkUu {ks=ksa esa

ikyuk?kjksa dk lapkyu fd;k tk jgk gSA ftlesa

vcrd yxHkx 4]680 ls vf/kd cPps ykHkkafor

gks pqds gSaA laLFkk }kjk o"kZ 1991 ls ifjokj

ijke'kZ dsUnz dk lapkyu fd;k tk jgk gSA dsUnz

ds ek/;e ls vc rd yxHkx 2]647 izdj.kksa dk

fujkdj.k fd;k tk jgk gSA ifj"kn~ }kjk

le;&le; ij efgykvksa gsrq dkuwuh tkx:drk]

LokLF; tkx:drk rFkk vU; izf'k{k.k dk;ZØeksa

dk vk;kstu fd;k tkrk gSA

bykgkckn 'kk[kk % bykgkckn ysMht Dyc

th0th0vkbZ0lh0 bUVj dkyst vkSj laLdkj

bUVjus'kuy Ldwy esa o`{kkjksi.k djk;k x;k vkSj

cPpksa dks i;kZoj.k laca/kh tkudkjh nh xbZ rFkk

izR;sd fo|kFkhZ dks uhe dk ikS/kk fn;k x;k fd

mls ?kj tkdj yxk,aA Vªstjj ds ?kj esa bZn feyu

fd;k x;k rFkk laLFkk dh rjQ ls nks xjhc

dU;kvksa dh 'kknh ds fy, vkfFkZd lgk;rk nh

xbZA Lo;a lgk;rk lewg dh xzkeh.k efgykvksa dks

izf'kf{kr djus ds fy, vfefy;k xk¡o esa nks

fnolh; f'kfoj yxk;kA ftlesa mUgsa Vksdjh]

ltkoVh lkeku] vpkj] eqjCcs vkfn cukuk

fl[kk;k x;kA fFk;ksflfQdy lkslkbVh }kjk

Jherh jatuk xqykVh dks fo'o T;ksfr lEeku ls

vyad`r fd;k x;kA lHkh efgyk laLFkkvksa dks

i;kZoj.k laca/kh tkudkjh nh x;h rFkk dkWyst

dkaVsLV vkSj Lyksxu dkaVsLV gqvkA fDot dkaVsLV

esa Hkh yksxksa us c<+ p<+ dj fgLlk fy;k iwy yap

gqvkA ,uhfe;k dSEi (Health Awareness

Programme) vYykiqj esa yxk;k x;kA

lcyk ukjh vkt dh

lkS lky igys gesa ge ij ukt Fkk

vkt Hkh gS vkSj dy Hkh jgsxk

lfn;ksa dks clysa] Kku c<+k;sa

,d ,d ukjh xq# cu tk;s

vKkfu;ksa dks jkg fn[kyk;sa

f'k{kk dh mUufr djk;sa

lkS lky igys gesa ge ij ukt Fkk

& 'kdqaryk ikjs[k

vkt Hkh gS vkSj dy Hkh jgsxk

gekjh rkdr dks detksj uk le>ks

vxj tqV x;s rks nqfu;k cny nsa

pyks cguksa lkFk lkFk gkFk c<+kvks

nqfu;k esa ukjh dk LFkku crk nks

lkS lky igys gesa ge ij ukt Fkk

vkt Hkh gS vkSj dy Hkh jgsxk

Conference at New York - United Nations Commission on the status of Women - CSW56

Agra Cantt Branch

Pathankot Branch

Gulmohar Mahila Mandal, Mumbai, Juhu Branch

AIWC - New Delhi

Gandhi Nagar Branch, Vellore conducted Solar Renewable Energy Awareness program on

3rd March 2012

Gandhi Nagar Branch Vellore celebrating World Womens Day on 29th February 2012