With reference to women, empowerment means the increasing spiritual, political, social and economic strength of women in a whole. Out of the 1.3 billion people who live in absolute poverty around the globe, 70 per cent are women. For them poverty does not mean scarcity or want, it means rights denied, opportunities curtailed and voices kept silent.

Statistically, two-thirds of the world’s illiterates are women. Also, HIV/AIDS being a dreaded disease is increasingly being recognised as a as a women’s disease. In several Southern African countries, more than three quarters of all young people living with HIV are women. Though women bear nearly all the responsibilities of the family, they are systematically and conveniently denied basic human rights, critical information and moreover, freedom of action. 

This is also a well known fact that the development of the society is incomplete without the development of women. Many initiatives have been taken by different agencies for women empowerment. Self dependency in terms of finance is also an important dimension, which acts as a tool to evaluate women empowerment. 

The central and state governments of India have taken mandatory steps towards solving these problems and the ‘Bundelkhand Package’ is one of the example of such initiatives. 

The TARA Livelihood Academy (TLA) works in Bundelkhand to help and empower the rural women towards playing a prominent role in the development processes of the area. To fulfill this objective, TLA provides them with training in different trades and helps them to link alongside different income generation activities. This initiative is an essential part of TLA’s strategy. 

In this regard TLA organised three training programmes under National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD’s) and Micro-Enterprise Development Programme. These training programmes were organised in the TARAgram Pahuj campus and in the nearby villages. Women from approximately 160 self help groups (SHG) from across seven villages have participated in these training programmes so far.  

A training on hand embroidery, organised at the TARAgram Pahuj campus, for instance attracted fifty five women from different SHGs. During the training process, women are skillfully taught different stitches of hand embroidery. 

Another training was organised in village Dhikoli - a 12-days training on soft toy making. Approximately fifty women participated in this programme. During the training, different skills, are related to soft toy making was taught to them. A training on artificial jewellery making was also conducted in Village Rampura in Bundelkhand. The training was conducted over a period of 12 days. More than 60 women took part in the training

Apart from these skill enhancing training, the rural women were also acquainted with soft skills, business-related skills on how to start and run a business. The primary aim being to not only train these women in skills that they want to develop, but also to motivate them to start small enterprises. The TLA team helps women SHGs to start their own enterprise and links them with different government programmes and financial institutions. 

The training programme on soft toy making in village Dhikoli has enabled the women of Khatibaba Self Help group to start a business of making and selling soft toys. Women of Radhakrishna SHG of village Rampura have also started making different types of artificial jewellery sets. They rent artificial jewellery for marriages within the village. With these skills, they now earning earn livelihoods for themselves. 

To conclude, TLA’s initiative to make these women self employed, will play a significant role in increasing women’s strong participation, not only in the future developmental processes, but also to enhance their social and economic situation in their communities. q