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Various
rural development studies conducted by the IIE have shown that
India’s rural regeneration requires appropriate education of
rural women for empowering them as the major contributors to
the quality of rural life. Based on this finding, a special
centre for the education and development of rural women was
set up in a village called Shivapur, about 25 kms from Pune.
The Centre, named J.P. Naik Center for Education and
Development of Rural Women (CEDRW), began functioning in 1995
after two years of preparatory action. |
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The CEDRW programmes include health education, legal literacy,
political education, trade-training, agriculture,
co-operation, dairy-development, goat-raising, food-processing
and marketing, reading-circles, cultural activities, use of
science and neo-technology, investigation of indigenous
knowledge systems, child development and nutrition,
family-life and personality consciousness. Girls and women are
helped to learn cycling and driving. New farm technologies,
water purification, solar drying of vegetables are part of
their training. Women’s Self-Help Groups have become popular.
In all 51 SHG’s with 20 members in each, are successfully
functioning in 12 villages. In addition, 6 Community Learning
centers are being conducted by women animators in 6 villages.
A women’s library at Shivapur supports 6 circulating libraries
at the CLCs. Several women trained in trades, food-processing,
agriculture and dairy-development have been earning annual
incomes ranging from Rs. 10,000/- to Rs. 50,000/- They have
stimulated men to set up SHGs. They also engage in social
service by helping needy school-children and others also, in
their respective villages. |
