Village Sunpura, Bisrakh, District Gautam Budh Nagar, UP

Harbati Gujar is the former Pradhan of Sunpura Gram Panchayat. 50 years old Harbati was illiterate. She feels if she was literate, she could have performed her duties as a Sarpanch much better. When TARA Akshar+ Programme came to her village, Harbati immediately enrolled herself in the program with the desire to become literate. Highly motivated Harbati, with dedication and hard work, passed the examination. The ability to read and write has brought a new confidence in her and she is an inspiration to other women of her village.

46 years old Nirmala Devi of Garopur village is a president of the Hari Om SHG. Having done the TARA Akshar course she now works much more efficiently guiding her group. She also makes it a point to encourage other members to study. At present her advice carries much more weight as in the rural areas of India the opinion of a literate woman commands greater respect and attention. TARA Akshar has not only changed Nirmala’s life but also enabled her to influence the lives of other women.

Guddi is a resident of village Khundarpur. She is 38 years old. She has been working as treasurer of the Jai Maa Durge SHG for a number of years even though she could earlier neither read nor calculate. This used to be a major source of worry for her as she was dependent on other persons’ help. One day she heard that TARA Akshar+ programme would be coming to her village. She was very excited and wasted no time in enrolling for the course. Now that she has become literate, she says, "I never believed that I would ever be able to do mathematical calculations and write as well.........and that too within two months!" She is thankful to TARA Akshar+ for giving her the opportunity to study. She now does her work independently and with confidence. She also helps other members of the group in various activities of their own.

Murti Devi, 32 years old, is a president of Jai Ma Durge SHG in the village of Khundarpur. Till recently she could neither read nor write and found it difficult to function in an effective manner. She was only able to sign her name even though she was not familiar with the Hindi letters. One day her friend told her about TARA Akshar. She has done the course and says proudly: " Now I am a ‘working’ president as I know what I am doing and how I can do things better". Her confidence level has gone up tremendously and she is performing excellently as president of her SHG. Nirmala is now looking forward to strengthen her organisation by arranging for an embroidery and tailoring teacher for the members. She also reads a Hindi newspaper regularly to be abreast of the latest developments involving government schemes for women. q