1. Manthan Topic: Walk to Equality:
Ensuring Safety and Empowerment of Women
Inculcating Ethics and Creating
Self Reliance:
Solving The Problem from The Grassroots Level
Presented by
Archana Sharma, Mahendra Mohan Das,
Paresh Parimal, Rohit Gupta, Sagar Kumar
IIT (BHU) Varanasi

2. Parameters Male Female Difference
Literacy Rates 82.14% 65.46% 16.68%
Parliament 89.2% 10.8% 78.4%
High Court 91.74% 8.25% 83.49%
Paid Work 8.5% 4.4% 4.1%
Infant MR 49 52 3
Source: 2011 census
Current Scenario: Women in India
The soaring crime graph and
empowerment parameters
portray the bleak status of
women in our society.
Underlying Causes:
-Gender Stereotyping.
-Sexual Division of Labour.
-Lacking moral values .

3. Improving Moral Values from the grassroots level
• Inclusion of moral education chapters in academic school
curriculum emphasizing equality in society.
• Filming and screening of documentaries advocating respect
and dignity towards women.
Snapshot of solution proposed for the Safety of Women
Value Education
through
Textbooks and
Media
Detailed description of key steps
Education: Adding moral chapters
• Organizing a committee having representatives from Central and State Education
Boards, reputed psychologists and social scientists to draft content .
• Since moral education impacts the mindset of a children, mandatory chapters
should be included in curriculum catering to different age-groups
 For primary level: lessons on importance of women in society.
 For middle level: lessons on awareness regarding safety .
• Organizing workshops and guidance seminars for the teaching faculty in schools.
Media: Making documentaries
• Encouraging documentaries/films/videos to highlight the presence of women in
myriad sectors of society.
• Free distribution and screening of such documentaries in educational institutions.

4. Recruitment
Organising
workshops
Using
media and
NGOs
Human and Financial resources required at each step
Coordinator for district
level @ INR 20000/month
Sub coordinator for sub
division level @ INR
16000/month
Inviting feminist
thinkers to conduct
workshops for teachers.
Conducting workshops
including wages and
allowances @INR 15000
Using NGOs for
distribution & screening
of documentaries.

5. • Integrating with Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan.
• Women Empowerment Schemes e.g. CEDAW
• Feminist women Organizations , NGOs and other Philanthropic Institutions.
• In case of making and distribution of the documentaries, funds can be granted
under NFDC scheme.
Leveraging existing government infrastructure
and other proposed sources of funding
• Allowance for coordinators of workshops Rs.11.2 crore
• Organizing workshop, including allowances Rs.11.4 crore
• Estimated Grand Total Rs.22.6 crore
One-time
cost for
conducting
workshops
Advantages over existing system
• Prevention is better than cure.
• Cost effective and impactful.
• Use of existing human resources rather than recruiting new ones.
• Visual media, such as documentaries will create a profound effect on the people.

6. • Long term impact on parochial mindset of people and
ushering in progressive society for future generations
• Imparting moral education that instills respect for
women will boost a girl child’s morale and give her a
sense of confidence and self-reliance.
• A picture is worth a thousand words. Screening
documentaries will have a sound psychological impact
on young minds.
Scalability
• Today’s children will make tomorrow’s society and
nation. As we are targeting all the children of India, its
effect will take place nationwide.
Sustainability
• Morales once imbibed cannot be undone. It will
sustain forever.
Future Benefits of the proposed solution

7. Monitoring mechanism
• Take help of NGOs and women organizations of the
locality to monitor the activities and report it to officials
centrally given responsibility for the implementation of
the project.
• Social Audit: Ensure every school provides for at least two
classes on Moral values every week.
• Screening of such documentaries in each school must take
place at least once in a year.
Social challenge
• Some leaders and citizens having orthodox outlook lead to
possibility of protests against inclusion of such moral
chapters.
Economic challenge
• Government and philanthropic organizations unable to
visualize the viability of funding this project.
Hurdles to accomplishment

8. Creating Examples among themselves
Snapshot of solution proposed for Empowerment of Women
Encouraging women’s
participation in
Political and Economic
sectors
• Fix a minimum percentage of women candidature for
each political parties.
• Organize women into SHGs and venture into
entrepreneurship in sectors of Geographical Indicators.
Select GI
• Select suitable Geographical Indicator regions to set up Small scale
industries.
• Appoint a village coordinator, preferably from the village itself.
Select
women
• Encourage and select women villagers in the area.
• Assure them that all the legal rights and profit will rest with them.
Infrastruct
ure
• Acquiring land & setting up small industries taking Fixed capital from the
government.
• Providing loans at subsidized rates. Promote their indigenous skills.
Marketing
• Organizing trade fairs.
• Using media to promote such GI products.
Detailed description of key steps

9. • Seeing women of the village establishing themselves will boost a girl child’s morale.
• A step closer towards Self Reliance.
• The contribution of women in the GDP will surge leading to Financial Inclusion.
• Cultural promotion of the region.
Organizational set up
Ministry of Women and
Child Development
District Magistrate
Block Development
Officer
Village Coordinator
Small scale
industry
Village Coordinator Village Coordinator
• Set up a committee to plan the
project and frame guidelines.• Acts as the nodal
officer responsible
for implementation,
monitoring and
supervision.
• Exercise general control over all
village coordinators.
• Encourage and organize
women, publicize the
scheme.
• Check the participation
of women from the
village in the industry.
Advantages over existing system

10. • The increasing or decreasing trend in the participation of women in this scheme
will serve as a criteria to measure the impact and reach of the solution.
• Village Coordinators must submit reports regularly to the concerned authorities
containing details like Funds received, Products sold, estimated profits.
• Putting a feedback mechanism in place to keep the community mobilized, assess
difficulties, receive suggestions to make the project more inclusive and impactful.
Scalability
• After successfully setting up a Small scale industry, it can be merged as
collaborators with larger ones.
Sustainability
• Once the profits become significant, more and more women will step up for the
scheme and the idea will sustain.
• Integrating women Empowerment with identified
Geographical Indications(e.g Darjeeling Tea) .
Leveraging existing
govt. infrastructure
Measuring Impact and Appropriate Monitoring Mechanism
Scalability and Sustainability

11. Economic:
• Women are oblivious about market
conditions and are often double-
crossed by middlemen and agents.
Social:
• Orthodox mindset and social stigma
Technological:
• They may have the resources but
lack of technical expertise may pose
a problem.
Legal:
• Land Acquisition
• Arranging the women participants into
cooperatives/groups for better
collective bargaining power.
• Procuring formal credits through SHGs.
• Tie-ups with feminist NGOs to convince
villagers through Gram Sabha and
community representatives.
• Imparting technical know-how to the
participants.
• Providing fairer compensations.
Challenges Mitigation factors
SWOT Analysis

12. APPENDIX
• References:
• Report of Expert Committee on Gender Education :National Commission for Women
Publications.
• National Crime Record Bureau reports,2010.
• Report on Successes and Failures of SHGs in India,2008.
• Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection ) Act,1991.
• Census 2011(Provisional Figures).
• National Policy for Empowerment of Women,2001.
• The status of women : A reality check by Swayam.
• Annual Report 2008: SEWA Academy.