Mission Shakti: Sanitary Napkin to rural women to be distributed through Self Help Groups

Sandeep Mitra.

Lucknow, Oct 23,2020. The creation of over 3.71 lakh Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the state has helped the women, including thousands of migrants, cater to their families by way of financial self-reliance.  Going a step further, the spirit and message of ‘Mission Shakti ’ got assimilated with the women empowerment in true sense as the District Administration of Gorakhpur, the home turf of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Ji, has taken up a challenging task of  distributing sanitary napkins to link women SHGs for sale and production of napkin. The sanitary napkins are a very useful product in terms of women’s hygiene and health but making it accessible to rural / backward areas has always been a challenge. A big napkins producing plant is functioning in Gorakhpur Industrial Development Authority (GIDA) and the owners of the factory are also asked to raise public awareness in rural / backward areas under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) during the ‘Mission Shakti’ programme , launched on October 17, the first day of Sharadiya Navratra. In fact, the nodal officer of the district Manisha Trigathia also visited the factory and Chief Executive Officer OF GIDA was directed to strictly implement gender equality and related Acts / provisions in units located In GIDA area.Going beyond rituals, this Durga Puja/ Navratri, a group of girls is getting empowered in real sense, courtesy ‘Mission Shakti’ launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on October 17. Not only this, several events have been organised in Gorakhpur, as part of the mission. In one such event, the girls took part in a training programme for self-defence and showcased their skills with pride.  This is just a part of a wide array of programmes that are being held in various districts since the launch of the mission on October 17, with the objective of guaranteeing security and respect to every woman in the state while ensuring the practice of holding women in high regard was not confined to a few days but was permanent and self-sustaining. In the CM’s former parliamentary constituency ofGorakhpur, a number of events were held including a webinar organised by the Department of Women Welfare and Bal Vikas Sewa Evam Pushtahar. The issues discussed were gender equality and saving women from domestic violence and dowry harassment besides dwelling on the issue of their rehabilitation and punishment awarded to perpetrators against such crimes. The Anganwadi workers coordinated with the ASHA workers and ANMs and created awareness among women regarding gender equality and told them about their rights. Not only women but men too participated in large numbers in the event.  The Basic Shiksha Department organised a webinar on women empowerment and the teachers were directed to make sure that women in their region were aware about the Child Helpline and Women Helpline services. Special emphasis was laid on creating awareness about maintaining hygiene among women. The health department too organised an awareness meet while the higher education department discussed in detail about self-defence and various legal rights of women. Meanwhile, in Mirzapur, an awareness programme was organised at Police Lines where women and girls were informed about the helpline numbers 1090, 1098 and 112.  It was also informed that one woman police personnel each would be deployed at every police station to receive women complainants. A presentation was given on self-defence by Taekwondo players. A similar awareness programme was organised at Kamla Arya Kanya PG College where teachers and students took part in discussion on crime against women, and how helpful were the helplines such as 1090, 1098 and 112 for women safety.