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Rural Women: Agents of
Change
“There
are women who make things better...There are women who make things
happen. There are women who make their way. There are women who make a
difference…There are women who change the world everyday”
Ashley Rice
They live all over the world, 35% of India’s woman population living in
rural India. (Census India 2001).
One such woman is Meera from Village Gujjara in Orchha district of
Madhya Pradesh. A poor and illiterate woman, she heard about the Women’s
Energy Cluster, which manages the Gaushala – or cow-shelter, running it
as a dung-based biogas enterprise, eight km from her village. She went
there and decided to participate in the capacity building and functional
literacy training programmes facilitated by Development Alternatives
(DA). That and her visits to women’s enterprises in Tilonia and
Ahmedabad gave her life a dramatic turn. With her new-found knowledge
and brimming with confidence, Meera inspired twelve other women to align
with her and bid for the midday meal scheme for village schools. Not
only did she win the contract for children’s meals in four villages,
today she and her group are earning Rs 2500-3000 each, per month.
It was simple access to training, a literacy programme - TARA Akshar,
based on computer technology and the power of possibility that changed a
village women’s life forever. There are millions of Meeras just waiting
for opportunities - for potential skills to be developed, for exposure
to possibilities and to make life-changing choices.
Formal and informal education together, can reveal enormous capacities
that lie latent in many rural women. These dormant talents and skills if
nurtured, can lead to rapid socio-economic growth and the overall
well-being of women and their communities. The third Millennium
Development Goal and UN agencies all recognise that gender equality and
the empowerment of women through the development of skills will ensure
livelihoods and alleviate poverty, especially in climate sensitive rural
regions.
Imagine putting such power in the hands of the primary educators that
constitute more than 1.4 billion of rural population in developing
countries.
Since the early 80s, the Indian Government and numerous NGOs have been
working towards improving the socio-economic conditions of rural women
to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The Bundelkhand region of Central India is one such example, where the
efforts of Development Alternatives on the education and training of
rural women and the fruits it has borne can be clearly seen. The Radio
Bundelkhand venture, a community radio station, established in
collaboration with the rural communities is one such example. This
initiative not only serves as a means of employment and training of
rural women, it is also a platform for their voices to be heard and to
freely express themselves. Through the programmes, numerous women have
been acquainted for example, with climate resilient agricultural
practices, irrigation techniques and drought resistant seeds for higher
productivity.
The sustainable civil society initiative undertaken by DA and the Swiss
Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) addresses environmental
challenges and eradicates poverty through the Women’s Energy Clusters in
rural Bundelkhand. These clusters have motivated rural women to achieve
financial independence. Training on how to run a biogas-based
enterprise: on the use of bio-waste, such as rice husk and cow-dung for
the generation of electricity, has enabled them to meet rural energy
needs in a green way while reinforcing traditional knowledge and
practices.
The importance of rural Indian women earning decent jobs cannot be
overemphasised. Its significance can be seen from numerous cases in
rural Rajasthan where the ‘Source of Change’, an NGO working on women’s
education, has employed young girls in computer technology. The income
generated through this enterprise enables them to continue their
education. Another outstanding example is Self Employed Women’s
Associations (SEWA), where women have engaged in arts and crafts or
trades that have been major sources of income and financial support for
their families.
On this 100th celebration of Women’s Day, all of us - development
practitioners, planners and policy makers, must pledge to empower the
change-makers to take charge of their lives and claim their rights for
decision-making, income generation and access to entitlements. Only
then, can all rural women change their world. q
Indira
Mansingh
imansingh@devalt.org
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