Recently after almost more than two decades, I ventured out to go to Canacona - a distance of two hours plus from my residence in Mapusa. As the Chair of Assocham Women Empowerment in Goa, we partnered with the Department of Women and Child Development and Axzora and EthernetXpress India to launch eco-friendly reusable sanitary napkins “ named Shrimati Napkins. This was an initiative towards sustainable, safe and plastic-free sanitary hygiene for women during menstruation.
We had specifically chosen a tribal area “ Canacona in Goa. Reminiscing on the first time I visited Canacona in transit on the way back from South India, I was taken by surprise at the sea-change that the area has undergone today. Canacona as I passed through had some nationalised and private banks, national chains of food shops and ice cream parlours, hotels and innumerable buildings. I felt the town was more modern compared to some interior rural places that I have visited in North Goa.
As I entered the hall in the peak May heat, I saw some zari saree-clad women make their way to the function. In the crowd, I saw scores of well-draped women, as I looked quizzically at the then Director Deepali Naik of the Department of Women & Child Development, seeking out the notions of tribal women I had in my mind. She gave a reassuring smile to the ‘pleasantly surprised’ me. They could pass off as any other regular local women in Goa and astonishingly, most of them were well educated.
I then approached the local MLA and Speaker of Goa Assembly Ramesh Tawadkar and told him about the transformation I saw in his constituency. He apprised us of the development works and also informed about the innovative houses constructed under the Shram Dham project which he had undertaken “ pictures of which I recently saw on his Facebook handle. He was very humble and down-to-earth and so was his dynamic wife Savita Tawadkar who supported him in doing good grass-root level developmental work that was a testimony of the change.
While I was conversing with the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) Ashanka Naik Gaonkar, we discussed the role of Women and Child Development department; notable amongst the activities they regularly do is supplementary nutrition programme and Poshan Mah Scheme for instilling healthy food habits, giving monthly rations aiming to reduce the malnutrition seen in local communities, celebrating milestone days and inviting women to participate in group cultural activities.
Before liberation, the tribal women worked in the fields and were relegated to their homes performing household duties. Most of them were illiterate and were involved in traditional activities involving their families and communities. Post-liberation the government started a number of schools and started working towards increasing the literacy of the villagers. Slowly women started working outside their homes in government as well as in the private sector. A lot of Self-help groups were formed and women were encouraged to make the transition to self-employment and start small businesses and soon there were women running their tailoring business, setting small stalls selling a variety of items including traditional foods etc.
A host of national and local schemes were adopted and propagated amongst the community like Griha Aadhar, Ladli Laxmi, Ujjwala Yogana, amongst others. The Swawlamban scheme provides financial assistance to the Mahila Mandals/SHGs for providing training under various trades in order to encourage women to undertake income-generating activities and become self-reliant. Also, vocational and skill training workshops were conducted providing skill training to women which aims at stimulating employment opportunities among women of various socio-economic levels and different age groups. Forming self-help groups ensured financial inclusion and helped them to participate jointly in exhibitions with their food products, traditional handicrafts and competitions like folk dances.
Increased literacy saw many women working as teachers in different educational institutions from pre-primary to university level. Today, the women folk work in varied jobs from health to police service and from co-operative societies to nationalised banks. It is heartening, also, to see many women successfully running their businesses too. Summing up I can only conclude that this is a perfect example of how women can be empowered by the right mix of adoption of government schemes, good intent and correctly implementing them.
(The writer is Chairperson of Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Women’s Wing & ASSOCHAM Goa “ Women Empowerment Chair)
