January march final

AIWC Annual Meeting at Kolkata

1
ROSHNIJournal of the All India Women's Conference
JANUARY - MARCH 2012
AIWC has Consultative Status with -
UNITED NATIONS
Permanent Representatives
Ms. Sudha Acharya
Ms. Mala Pal
Ms. Seema Upelekar
(ECOSOC) (UNICEF)
AIWC has affiliation with -
International Alliance of Women
Pan Pacific and S.E.A. Women's Association
CONGO
Global Water Partnership
World Renewable Energy Network
AIWC has 500+ Branches and 1,00,000+ Members
Patrons : Dr Sarojini Varadappan
Ms Shobhana Ranade
Ms Kunti Paul
Dr Aparna Basu
Dr Manorama Bawa
Mrs. Gomathi Nair
Office Bearers
President – Mrs. Bina Jain
Secretary General – Mrs. Sheela Kakde
Treasurer – Mrs. Usha Nair
Editorial Board
Advisor – Dr Aparna Basu
Editor – Mrs. Veena Kohli
Assisted by – Ms Mythily Jagannathan
Ms Saroj Chabra
Ms Manju Prasher
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ROSHNI
Contents
From the Editor's Pen 2
Welcome Speech by Mrs. Bina Jain 3
84th Annual Conference 4
Presidents Address - 84th Annual Conference-Kolkata 5
International Women's Day 7
A Report on Birth Centenary Celebration of 8
Ashoka Gupta - Sheela Kakde
Sadhrana (Gurgaon) 9
Secretary General's Report - 84th Annual 10
Conference-Kolkata
In Praise of Volunteerism - Dr. Manju Kak 16
President : Vidyagauri Neelkanth 17
President : Sarla Roy 19
AIWC Reaches Rural Women 20
You can't ignore Rural Women 24
Newsletter 26
Report of my visit to New York - Mrs. Bina Jain 27
Workshop on Empowerment of Rural Women 29
- Mrs. Bina Jain
Innovative Approaches 30
United Nation Commission on the Status 34
of Women - Sheela Kakde
A Profile of Ashwini Shkirsagar 37
Book Release 38
Dr. Kadambini Ganguli : A Pioneer 39
Spring - Poem by Sarojini Naidu 42
In search of Happiness 43
Change your thinking 44
Adding life in our Textiles 45
World Consumer Day 47
Report on side event attended at 48
COP 17, Durban - Usha Nair
Branch Activities 51
vka[kksa dh ns[kHkky 57
'kk[kk xfrfof/k;ka 59
lcyk ukjh vkt dh 60

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From the Editor's Pen
DearFriends,
This issue is special not only because it starts the New Year with AIWC's Annual Conference meeting of all the
branches held at Kolkata but also the revival of its commitment towards empowerment of the rural women of
India. We all have our roots in the villages and as one goes back the ancestral count, one will discover some link
with a village; yet how much have we given back to these villages where we came from? Importantly, you will read
in this issue about AIWC's participation in the UN world meet on the status of rural women at New York-
representedbyMrsBinaJainandher teamwhichincluded AshwiniShikirsagar,thevillagesarpanch
We have included in this issue, brief biographical profiles of the glorious ladies - the Late Smt Vidyagauri
Neelkanth, Smt Sarla Ray , our past presidents and Dr. Kadambini Ganguli, outlining their contributions and
inspiring life. I quote lines from Dr. Manju Kak's article on volunteerism,“ The women who created these
institutions also selflessly dedicated themselves to the cause of improving the lives of people in India's villages and
urban slums. So, let's not ignore a century's contribution by women who remain unsung and uncelebrated for
theirservicetothenation.”.
Once again we are proud to inform our members that the “Hero's Award” was given to our Patron Smt.
Shobhana Ranade at a function held in Mumbai. Our heartiest congratulations to her. We will give more details
inthenextissue.
Namaskarandbestwishestoallforthecomingdays.
Veena Kohli

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3
Sh.Shailesh Kumar
Bandopadyay, our office
bearers Smt Sheela
Kakde, Hon.Secretary
General, Smt Usha Nair,
H o n T r e a s u r e r ,
Respected Patrons,
D i g n i t a r i e s , V i c e
Presidents, Members-in-
charge, Members and all
invitees.
Happy NewYear to all of you.
I have great pleasure in welcoming you all today for
the Birth Centenary Celebrations of our beloved Smt
Ashoka Guptaji. Smt.Ashoka Gupta was born in
1912 and was educated at Bethune College
(Bethune College has special significance for AIWC
because, as early as in 1926, at a prize-giving
ceremony in Bethune College, Calcutta, the Director
of Public Instruction, Bengal, Mr E F Oaten, had
addressed women “who alone can help adequately
to remedy what is wrong in women's education,” and
this prompted Margaret Cousins to call for a
Conference of Women from all parts of the country,
and the rest as you all know is the history of AIWC).
Ashoka di became a member of AIWC in 1936 in
Dhaka, and from then on AIWC became a life long
commitment for her.
Ashoka Gupta has a long record of selfless social
work. She is known for her efforts in the aftermath of
Noakhali riots in 1946, when as a representative of
Welcome Speech by Mrs Bina Jain, President AIWC
A I W C , u n d e r t h e
guidance of Mahatma
Gandhi, she spent a
whole year in the remote
villages of the District to
r e s t o r e c o m m u n a l
harmony. During the
Famine of Bankura in
1943, Ashoka di
worked for Save the
Children Homes.
She was a strict disciplinarian and could never
tolerate inefficiency. I have had the good fortune of
working with her. During her term as President of
AIWC, Bapnu Ghar was reopened, and short stay
home and old age home at Vrindavan was started, I
was personally involved in the starting of the old age
home, where we had to face a lot of resistance from
the locals, but she was determined to open the
Home.
Ashoka Di was a campaigner for equal rights of
women. Ashoka Di was always interested in
promoting Youth. On the eve of independence she
was the member-in-charge of civil rights.
She was awarded the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj
Award for social work in Bengal and Hon.Doctorate
from Calcutta University.
Many of you have worked with Ashoka Di, and
waiting to share your memories on this occasion.
Therefore, I will end my speech here and thank you
all for hearing me patiently.
At Kolkata - January 2011

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4
Bhopal Jail inmates save up to adopt two girls
Inmates of Bhopal Central jail have decided to adopt two baby girls. They are saving every rupee to build
a fund that will help them look after the children till they turn 18, Both children live in the jail premises.
Three year old Unaiza is the daughter ofArshi, a woman convicted for murder.Arshi has been in jail for the
last three years. Unaiza has just started going to a primary school in the jail premises. The father of the
other infant, yet to be named, is jail guard Deepak Joshi.
Hundred of prisoners , including hardened criminals, are saving some money from what they earn in jail
working as carpenters, cooks or tailors. The prisoners earn Rs. 27, Rs. 21 and Rs. 10 for skilled, semi
skilled and unskilled work in jail. They are also cutting down on their bidis and cigarettes to put aside
enough money to bring up the children. Jail guards too, are contributing to the kitty. The idea was floated
on 11/11/11. "It was a rare date and ours was a rare gesture. So we close that day," said Jail
Superintendent Lalji Mishra.
There are about 3,000 inmates in the Bhopal Jail. Of them at least 300 inmates have agreed to the
proposal.
(Times of India)
th
The 84 Annual Conference of All India Women's Conference, had a special significance, as we
celebrated the Birth Centenary of our past President Smt. Ashoka Gupta, and Kolkata was especially
chosen as the venue, as it was her home town.
Many people came from different places to pay their tribute in various forms, be it in their talk or in
melodious songs. The day ended with exchange of fond memories of our belovedAshoka Gupta.
The Annual Conference of AIWC is such an event that all the Members attend the same with great
passion and commitment. This year we had attendance of about 320 participants from all over
the country, travelling by trains, braving the weather conditions.
Local handicrafts promoted by the branches were displayed at the entrance to the conference venue on
colourfully set up tables, which set the mood for the conference.
th
The Standing Committee Meeting which was held on 8 January was attended by all the participants in
full force and became a participatory discussion, and all the items on our Agenda was discussed and
debated. The time was flying but with so much interest no one realised the time. The evening was a
cultural treat for the gathering. Performance by some of the talented members was really commendable.
Special significance was the presence of the younger generation in the gathering, who were taking
particular interest in the event, which was a most welcome change.
- Bina Jain, PresidentAIWC
th
84 Annual Conference
7th to 10th January 2012 - Kolkata

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Prof Bani Basu - Eminent Writer
Prof. Malabika Sarkar Hon. Vice Chancellor
Presidency University
Prof. Suranjan Das - Vice Chancellor, University of
Kolkata
Respected Patrons, Secretary General,
Hon.Treasurer, Vice Presidents, Members-in-
Charge, Members, Ms. Mamata Roy, Chairperson,
Reception Committee and all the invitees.
Happy NewYear to all of you
It is a great honour for me to stand here and welcome
you all to this 84th Annual Conference being held in
the City of Joy - Kolkata, the beautiful city of Art,
Culture and Literature. It is the hometown of our
beloved SmtAshoka Di, and today it brings back fond
memories of her.
2011 was a year of pride forAIWC as our patron Smt.
Shobhana Ranade was awarded the
Padmabhushan and Jamnalal Bajaj Award . On
behalf of AIWC family I congratulate Smt.
Shobhanaji.
When I took over, I had certain concerns in my mind
and I wanted to improve the quality of our
service. We took various measures in this
direction.
• Vice presidents and Zonal organisers are the
major link between branches and head office. It
was felt that if they communicate with branches
effectively, the success of programmes is going
to be certain. The orientation programme for
Vice Presidents and Zonal Organisers
conducted by the Head Office has proved very
successful, and the quality of reports has
improved with greater clarity on branch
President's Address
84th Annual Conference - Kolkata, January 2012
activities. The main branches as well as
constituent branches are more active and are
taking up new programmes directly. My
Congratulations to the zonal organisers.
• Zonal meetings are a very good channel for
putting across problems of branches and finding
out practical solutions. Guidelines for members-
in-charge and zonal heads were circulated at
the start of our term to ensure zonal meetings
are conducted in a systematic way, and to make
it more meaningful and fruitful to the branches,
as branches are the backbone of our
organisation.
• As Swami Vivekananda said “There is no
chance for the welfare of the world unless the
condition of women is improved." “Economic
empowerment of women” was another concern.
Unless a woman is economically empowered,
she cannot get self confidence. In this regard we
have initiated various programmes. It is
heartening to note that AIWC members from
Kashmir to Kanyakumari are active in various
fields, in improving the living standards of
underprivileged women from urban and rural
areas, and making their life more meaningful.
• Keeping in mind the changing needs of the time,
“Retail Training” programmes are being
conducted by our members. It has opened new
avenues of employment for young adults. We
are happy to note that many of them are
successful in getting jobs in the Retail Sector.
On this platform we will share the good work being
done by various branches in different States, and
also to see how we can replicate the success stories
all over India.

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I have met many of the members in your Regions
during the Zonal Conferences, in Junagad - Gujarat,
Indore, Hyderabad, Kandi, Pathankot, Mysore, Puri -
Orissa and Mumbai,
It was a good opportunity to interact with a large
number of members mainly from the constituent
branches, and to build a strong relationship with the
branches. The impact of these conferences was
excellent. The branches have been able to increase
the number of members, especially the younger
generation, who are impressed by the work done by
AIWC. We have been able to achieve all this by the
collective effort and participation of all the members.
The Convocation of the Community College was
held coinciding with Smt. Laxmi Menon Memorial
Lecture on 30th November, 2011. It would be our
tribute to Mrs. Laxmi Menon if we fix this date as the
Convocation day ofAIWC Community Colleges.
This year as President, AIWC I attended various
Meetings of the Complaint Committee on Sexual
Harassment of Women, with various Ministries.
I also attended the working Group on Women's
Agency and Empowerment for the 12th Five Year
Plan, by the Ministry of Women & Child
Development.
New Programmes:
India is a country of villages. We need to bring the
rural population to the mainstream by providing
educational facilities in the villages, especially
technical skills to the rural population, The progress
of country is possible if we succeed in developing
the villages and make them self sustaining to
prevent migration of people from rural to urban
areas in search of employment.
Our branches should extend their programmes to
Rural areas in education, health, hygiene, water and
sanitation.
There is a change in our society, the elderly who are
at the peak of their Golden Age, are missing their
family life, most of the time they are forced to lead a
lonely life. We have to bring back our culture,
wherein the aged are not considered a liability but an
asset. I have a Vision of a “self contained Family
Nest”. The Family Nest will focus on the most
important segment of society - senior citizens,
children from weaker sections, and single working
women who have no secure place to live. We are
working on this. This concept may be adopted by
any Branch who have space available and we can
send them the Project module.
It is noted that blindness among children is
increasing in India. We can prevent blindness
among children if the visual impairment is detected at
an early stage. We will be starting this programme
very soon. Branches should take up this programme
in a big way.
AIWC has a rich heritage and history. We have
invaluable documents, books and photographs in
our Library. These are a valuable source of
information for Research Scholars and students not
only in India but all over the world. We are taking
various measures to preserve the legacy and
upgrade the Library.
Corruption in our Society has reached huge
proportions and affecting our life. We as NGOs and
women working for the betterment of society should
work towards inculcating value system amongst
younger generation.
We are ready with the module for Leadership
Training Programme for women, and will be rolling
out the same soon.
Sexual Harassment Committee has been formed in
AIWC which is mandatory.
The percentage of educated people in our country is
increasing, women are getting empowered, but still

ROSHNI
7
the violence and crime against women is increasing
day by day all over the country. I want our branches
to go deeper into the reasons for the same and to see
how we can bring about a safer society for our
women.
Among the 4 Trusts formed, the Health Trust has
started its activities, the other two Trusts for old age
and education will start their activities very soon.
Ritu Gujarati, one of our young members from
Chopada, Gujarat attended the Conference by Pan
Pacific South East Asia Women's Association, held
at Taiwan. This year a team of 4 people from AIWC
Participated in the COP17 Meeting along with
INFORSE at Durban.
2012 will be declared as the “Year of Sustainable
Energy for All” by UN, and we will try to partner with
them in many of the programmes.
Last but not the least, I am grateful to the Kolkatta
Branch for hosting the Annual Conference, and for
the excellent arrangements made for the same.
The celebration of International Womens Day, 2012
took place in Margaret Cousins Library, AIWC on
12th March. The library presented a festive
welcoming look with decorations of flowers and
rangoli. President Ms. Bina Jain presided over the
occasion, in which the Chief Guest was Ms
Madhubala Nath, Regional Policy Advisor, UN
Women South Asia. Dr. Aparna Basu, Patron, AIWC
introduced the Chief Guest who held an important
portfolio in the UN and had written on the subject of
womens empowerment. Ms. Nath in her informative
address spoke of the five-pointed strategy of the UN
for promoting womens empowerment, these were:
Literacy, economic empowerment, political
empowerment, preventing gender violence and
support to women in war situations. The United
Nations Objective was to inform and motivate all
governments to implement policies for overall
improvement in the status of women. She was glad
to inform the gathering of many achievements of
India in empowering women through various
strategies and praised the role of AIWC in providing
leadership at a national level for over 8 decades.In
her remarks, president Ms Bina Jain, gave a brief
account of the recently concluded UN meet on
consultative status for women. AIWC had
participated in the meeting and also organized a
workshop on rural womens empowerment. The
paper presented by AIWC at the international
gathering of NGO’s was Empowering Rural Women
South Asia. The NGO experience was greatly
appreciated. A documentary film on AIWC activities
for rural women in Haryana and West Bengal shown
at the UN was shown and appreciated by the
audience. Special invitees were two ladies from
Sadhrana,AIWC’s adopted village, Ms Kiran and Ms
Sunita. They spoke of their experiences in motivating
village women to form SHGs and take up income
generating work. In the subsequent discussion, Ms
Kalpakam Yechury and Ms Kalyani Raj described the
early struggles by AIWC to convince village folk in
Sadhrana to allow women to come out of purdah. In
her concluding remarks and vote of thanks, Ms
Sheela Kakde, Secretary, spoke about the status of
women in different countries as revealed at the
recent UN meeting, and touched upon some
advantages and gains that had come to Indian
women in social political and economic
empowerment, as well as the targets to be achieved.
- Mythily Jagannathan
International Womens Day Celebration in Delhi
- 12th March 2012

8
A Report on Birth Centenary Celebrations
of AIWC Patron Ashoka Gupta
The 84th Annual Conference of All India Women`s
Conference was held in Kolkata from 7th to 10th
January 2012. It was organized at Udayachal
Tourist Lodge Auditorium, DG Block, Sector-II, Salt
Lake City, Kolkata – 700 091. Being the Birth
Centenary year of our Patron Late Smt. Ashoka
Gupta ,AIWC thought it right to pay tributes to her on
7th January 2012.
AIWC President Smt. Bina Jain, the AIWC Patrons
Dr. Sarojini Varadappan, Smt. Shobhana Ranade
(representing Khadi Gramodyog), Smt. Kunti Paul,
Dr.Aparna Basu Dr. Manorama Bawa ,Smt. Gomathi
Nair, Smt. Rekha Modi from Stree Shakti, Smt.
Hashna Saha representd Bharat Scouts, and
Guides, West Bengal, Smt. Yasmin Sengupta from
Mahila Samiti, Smt. Dipali Sarkar from Buniyadi
Bidyapith, Mr. A.K.Roy from SOS Children's village,
Smt.Chandreyee Alam Lawyer & Social Worker,
Smt. Sheela Kakde, Secretary General, AIWC,
Treasurer Smt. Usha Nair, AIWC graced the
occasion with their presence. Three hundred and
fifty delegates from various parts of the country as
well as Presidents, Secretaries & members of all the
branches of Kolkata participated too.
The welcome address was delivered by Smt. Bina
Jain, President, AIWC New Delhi. She paid her
tribute with a wonderful speech where she
mentioned that she had the honour of working with
Asoka Gupta in a close proximity and came to admire
the qualities of the illustrious person, who fought
boldly to set up an old age home Vrindavan.
The 'lighting of lamp' was done by the Chief Guest,
Padmabhushan Shri Sailesh Bandopadhyay, the
well known writer of 40 books translated in different
languages. He is the recipient of the Bapu award too.
He also paid a floral tribute to Smt.Ashoka Gupta.
Members of AIWC branches felicitated president of
AIWC Delhi Smt. Bina Jain, the Chief Guest Shri
Sailesh Bandopadhyay, and all the honoured
Patrons. The special issue of 'Roshni' an illustrious
magazine, dedicated to the memory of Smt. Ashoka
Gupta was released.
Everyone, who spoke on that occasion, expressed a
feeling of respect, reverence, admiration for her.
Each speech focused on how she was held in high
esteem elicited by her qualities & achievements. All
the Patrons highlighted the great qualities &
achievements ofAshoka Gupta.
Smt. Hashna Saha, who represented Smt. Sandhya
Guha Roy, read out a letter written by Smt. Sandhya
Guha Roy. It enlightened us about the strong
characteristics of Ashoka Gupta's personality. Smt.
Kumkum read out a poem in memory of Ashoka
Gupta.
Smt. Ranade spoke of her personal relation with
Ashoka Gupta .
Smt. Yasmin Sengupta said she had empathy,
compassion and child like enthusiasm. She worked
in close proximity with Gandhiji at Noakhali for social
justice when the whole place was in the group of a
riot. She was a trustee of Kasturba trust & working
with her was a roller coaster ride. Post 1947, she
had formed a samiti which worked for child welfare,
education, and training for occupational therapy with
unflinching dedication. The samiti has evolved over
the years.
Smt. Dipali Sarkar from 'Buniyadi Bidyapith' said it
was founded underAshoka Gupta's direction in 1953
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9
This sleepy village, about 20 km. from the madding crowd of Gurgaon city, came alive today with the
arrival of former actress, Ms. Sharmila Tagore, and a host of office-bearers of the All India Women's
Conference (AIWC).
They launched a number of welfare schemes in the village such as a sewing center, welfare projects for
youths, schemes for rain-water harvesting, herbal cultivation and renewable energy all for the purpose of
women empowerment and fostering gender equity. All these centres and projects were under the theme
of 'integrated development' of the village.
The AIWC, a voluntary organization, having about 500 branches in the country with three of them in
Haryana, has its Head-quarter in Delhi.
Infact, the launching of the centres and projects was part of the celebrations of Platinum Jubilee year of
theAIWC.
The President of the AIWC, Dr. Aparna Basu told the 'NCR Tribune' that this village was chosen in
Gurgaon district after a survey.The scale was tipped in its favour as it had a woman sarpanch.
The AIWC has branches in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Rewari districts in Haryana. Efforts would be made
to launch women-related projects at all its branches, Dr. Basu said.
She said theAIWC would appoint teachers for running and managing the centres launched today.
The president of the Gurgaon branch, Mrs.Asha Sharma, said that the women of the village have pledged
to play a greater role in society. A number of them have shown keenness to be part of the adult literacy
project being launched by theAIWC.
What, however, pulled the heartstrings of women at the function was the views expressed by Ms.
Sharmila Tagore. She said that Parliament and social organizations must play an active role in
empowering the women who are the backbone of any society. The world will also be a better place if
women are given a pride of place, she added.
This village was part of the royal estate. No wonder, the members of Sharmila's family, Tiger Pataudi et al,
hold charm and inspire awe among the residents of the nearby villages.
- Clipping from NCR Tribune News Service, March 5, 2003
Sadhrana (Gurgaon), March 5, 2003
with 25 children. She worked with the children of
slum and industrial workers. When Dipali Sarkar
joined as the headmistress of the school in 1967, she
had the good fortune to know her better.
Mr. A.K. Roy spoke on behalf of SOS children's
village. Ashoka Gupta was the President of SOS
village. She was fond of dance and music so
introduced it for the children of SOS village. He sang
two songs which was appreciated by all the
members and guests who were present in the tribute
ceremony.
Smt. Chandreyee Alam told that she has some
family relation with Ashoka Gupta. She spoke about
her personal relationship with Smt. Asoka Gupta.
She said, in spite of losing her son, Smt. Ashoka
Gupta dedicated her life for the upliftment of the poor
and needy. She rose above party politics, instilled
confidence in women and strove for women
empowerment and enlightenment.
While concluding the programme with the vote of
thanks the Secretary General Smt. Sheela Kakde
paid her tributes also.
--Sheela Kakde, Secretary General,AIWC
ROSHNI

ROSHNI
10
Secretary General’s Annual Report for the
84th Annual Conference of AIWC
at Kolkata, 7th to 10th January2012.
NAMASKAR!
Honourable Patrons, Respected President , Dear Vice Presidents and Treasurer, Members in Charge, Zonal
organizers, Standing committee members and delegates, I extend hearty welcome for the 84th Annual
Conference of AIWC at Kolkata, and wish each one of you a very Happy, Healthy, Peaceful & Prosperous
2012.
I feel happy to remember the glorious past of our great organization during the centenary year of our beloved
patron, lateAshoka Gupta. Let us pay our respects to the memory of this great soul with her yeoman services
to the cause of women and children and their development .We should not let this glory and standards
achieved by our predecessors slip out of our hands. We as custodians of this great tradition have to nurture
and pass this on to younger members.
It is my privilege to stand before you and give you an account of our performance in the first year of our tenure.
We all very well know that 500 and odd branches that we have, throughout the country constitute the bony
system of AIWC, and to keep it functioning well we arranged an orientation programme for the nine Zonal
organizers and five Vice Presidents on 10th -11th of March 2011.Guidelines were given to them for
strengthening the branches and conduct zonal meetings. It was very well received and the result is promising.
Zonal Organizers have travelled to branches and have collected
the data about the branches, have given the details about the
functioning. Still this work requires some more time to put it before
you. Zonal organizers are requested to translate the circulars in the
local language so that it becomes easier to understand and take up
the various one day awareness programs, and big programs of
Anemia free society, adolescent program, Literacy and skill
learning, Socio-economic program.
At Head Office -
Important Events –
Four Trusts-- 1.Trust for the Property, 2.Trust for Health,
3.Trust for Senior Citizens, 4.Trust for Education were
registered with AIWC President, Mrs. Bina Jain as the Settler
on 2nd February, 2011.
Felicitation of Patron Padmabhushan Smt. Shobhana Ranade
was done on receiving the award in the presence of members.
- Sheela Kakde, Secretary General, AIWC.

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11
Six days training for retailers was held in collaboration with Bharti Walmart at the Head Office inAugust.
10 members from Gurgaon. Chandigarh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Peth-Nasik, Chopada took the training. Four
training programs are conducted, 1 in Gurgaon, 2 in Mumbai and 1 in Peth-Nasik. Eighty five children have
taken the training. 4 have been absorbed in the retail industry.All participants will be given certificates.
Important days like Sarojini Naidu`s Birthday, International Women`s Day, World Health Day, International
Women`s Day, International Anti Terrorist Day, Laxmi Menon`s birthday were observed. Laxmi Menon
Memorial lecture on “Challenges in Literacy of Women” was arranged on the convocation ceremony of
Community College; Prof. Shyam B. Menon was the Chief Guest.
At Head Office we celebrated Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore`s 150 BirthAnniversary on 24th May 11 and
on 14th Sept. Panel discussion on “Gender Issues in Tagore`s work” was held on 14th Sept. This program
was sponsored by Ministry of CulturalAffairs, Government of India and was very well appreciated.
Orientation program, Farewell party, first Convocation ceremony for the Community College students were
held with eminent speakers like Dr. C. K. Ghosh Director IGNOU, Prof. Shyam B. Menon. Principal of the
Community College Dr. Vatts has given all the details in her report.
Various awareness programs like Violence Against Women, Ill effects of Tobacco, Food safety and
adulteration, legal awareness on Section 498A for counselors were held at the Head Office.
Two medical camps of Bone Density and Thyroid estimation and Anemia detection and treatment were
conducted at the Head Office premises.
National Foundation for Communal Harmony, Ministry of Home Affairs had sanctioned Four programs on
Communal Harmony. Three programs are successfully conducted, by the Bhopal branch, in Madhya
Pradesh, by Bruhad Surat branch in Gujarat, by Malegaon branch, in Maharashtra. Hyderabad branch in
Andhra Pradesh will do this program in January, 2012.
You can get the glimpses of all the above mentioned activities on slide show.
Permanent DepartmentalActivities—
1. Estate &Aga khan Hall –
a) The second shaft of Sarojini House is repaired.
b) External backside of Sarojini House painted.
c) Renovation of theAdministrative Block in KD Hostel is done
d) Third toilet at theTrustee House is done
e) Entrance of Bapnu Ghar is redone and repairs internally done.
f) OldAir-conditioning plant in the basement is renovated and hall is used by Community College.
g) 3rd floor toilets of Sarojini House are redone.
Aga Khan Hall—Both the Exhibition halls are rented throughout the year and are very popular for exhibitions.
2. Hostel & Mess- In the campus we have Sarojini House, K.D. Hostel and L.M. Hostel which provides
accommodation for 250 working women and trainees. Double rooms, Single rooms and dormitory and
guest rooms are available.AIWC members on recommendation from their branch can avail this facility.

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a) New Mess Manager Ms. Gayatri Sharma is appointed.
b) New Wardens Ms. Nirupama Raghav for KD & LM Hostel and Ms.Anjali Karmarka for Sarojini Hostel
are appointed.
c) Dining Hall of the Mess is renovated.
There are about 24 Working women`s Hostels run byAIWC branches.
Mrs.Asha Gambhir`s report gives the details.
3. Bapnu Ghar - in Head Office campus, is a shelter for women in distress.
It houses 30 women and children. There are 3 programs going on simultaneously like Short Stay Home,
Family Counseling Center and 24 Hour Helpline. The women are given vocational training to be self
supportive. Mrs. Kuljit Kaur has reported extensively.
Short Stay Homes--There are about 20 Short Stay Homes run by our branches.
4. Roshni- Mrs. Veena Kohli is taking care of this in house quarterly magazine very meticulously. A special
issue on our beloved PatronAshoka Gupta is released in the centenary year. You can get membership by
paying Rs. 200/-, along with the membership form duly filled.
5. MCM Library- Margaret Cousins Memorial Library houses nearly 10,000 books and 40 periodicals.
Researchers, professionals and academicians come for consultations. Now the archival restoration of
the important documents is going on.
6. Senior Citizen`s Home-AIWC runs a old age home at Vrindavan which houses 32 old women above the
age of 65 years and 25 women and children in Short Stay Home at Tarash Mandir. The renovation work at
the home is nearly complete and women at Infirmary will be shifted soon.
7. Rithala Project- Vocational training classes are run for Computer Training and Beauty Culture at Rithala,
sponsored by NDPL.
8. Mobile Helpline- Delhi Commission for Women has given us the project of 24 hours Mobile Helpline
since 2010 and has extended up to 2012.
9. Energy Dept.- Four Solar Fairs were arranged by the Energy department, sponsored by MNRE. Repair
of Solar equipments was taught to the participants. Member in Charge Mrs. Lalita Balakrishnan`s report
gives the details.
10. Community College- IGNOU certified Community College is being run in the basement area of Sarojini
House . It offers degree and certificate courses in Computer training, certificate and diploma in Textile
printing,, Beauty Culture,Ayurvedic Massage and Panch Karma, and spoken English.
11. AIWC supports 151 crèches run by the 40 branches by funding Re.1/- per child for food. This year, we
added following branches-- 1. Samaksha Community Center for Family Health (6), 2.AIWC Mysore Zone
branch (6), 3.AIWC Central Kolkata Constituency (2), 4.Mobile Creche, Pune Mahila Mandal (1), 5.AIWC
South Kerala branch,Alappuzha (15) are added. 3775 Children are the beneficiaries.

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Meetings -
International meetings - 1. Pan Pacific South East Asia Women`s Association meeting at Taiwan was
attended by Miss Ritu Gujrathi from Chopada, Maharashtra.
2. COP-17 on Climate Change at Durban was attended by Hon. Treasurer Smt. Usha Nair, Smt. Shantha
Das, Smt. KalpakamYechury, Smt. Suman Saxena.
Zonal Meetings--
Throughout the year following zonal meetings were arranged by the branches which gave opportunity to the
office bearers to meet the members of the constituent branches –
No. Date Zone Zonal Organiser Venue Host Branch
1. 13.3.11 Western zone B Dr.Tripti Vyas Girnar Junagarh, Gujarat
2. 20.4.11 Central zoneA Neeru Jain Meerut Meerut, U.P.
3. 7. 8.11 Central zone B GeetaTiwari Indore Indore, M.P.
4. 10.9.11 North zone Asha Sharma Kandi Kandi Pathankot
5. 20 .9.11 South zoneA Rehana Begum Hyderabad HyderabadA.P.
6. 3.10.11 South zone B GouriAdiyodi Mysore Mysore, Karnataka
7. 18.11.11 Eastern zone Shikha Mitra Puri Puri, Orissa
8. 07.12.11 Western zoneA Rekha Sali Mumbai Vile Parle, Mumbai
S.No. Programmes Beneficiaries
1. General Health Awareness 1165
2. Legal Awareness 1083
3. Consumer Awareness 305
4. Save the Girl & Female Feticide 290
5. Disaster Mgt. 325
6. Waste , Water & Sanitation 100
7. Rural Development 85
8. Health Camps ( Anemia, Thyroid, Dental, Cancer 2384

14
ROSHNI
At Branches -
In the year 2011 we have sanctioned 137 one day awareness programs that were applied for, out of that 82
programs have been completed and reports received and money released. 23 programmes are sanctioned in
November-December, hence the report is awaited. 32 sanctioned programs are not done even after the
sanction is given. On the next page the pie chart gives you an idea as to number of programs done in each
category. We have started giving programmes to constituent branches directly as it is found that some of the
constituent branches are doing extremely well.
The statistical data for big programs is as follows -
Project No.of Programs No. of beneficiaries Remarks
1. Anemia Project 89 9196 4444 found anemic 949 cured
2. Adolescents prog. 21 449
3. Integrated Literacy 21 Women 647 Skill chosen—
& Skill Development Prog. Children 527 Bag making, beautician
Artificial jewelery, soft toys
Cutting tailoring, embroidery,
Wood craft, tussar silk
reeling
4. Bidi workers 4 67 Program conducted 2.
5. Socio Economic 2 Sanctioned to - 1. Samyukta
2.Priyadarshani Mahila
Mandali
6. Adopted Villages
At this point I would like to congratulate the following branches for doing commendable work.
Heartiest Congratulations
Maximum awareness programs done by the following branches:- .
1. South West East Delhi Women`sAssociation. (7 programs)
2. AIWC, East Kolkata Constituency (4)
3. Samyukta and its constituent branches &AIWCTrivandrum branch
(3 each) ----------------------
4. East Kolkata Constituency branch has done 2 Bidi workers programs this year.
Exclusive Efforts
1. AIWC Jogeshwari constituent branch Mumbai (Cancer detection)
Chart Showing Total Number of Beneficiaries in TheYear 2011.

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2. AIWC South West Calcutta Constituency. ( Nari Siksha Sadan) - Breast cancer
3. Akhil Hind Mahila Parishad ,Vile Parle branch, Mumbai ( Skin Donation after Death)
4. AIWC Junagadh Branch (Rubella vaccine)
5. AIWC Calicut Chapter ( Cancer among Women)
6. Mahila Mandal- Malad (Cancer among women and hightech care)
7. ChamtagaraAdibasi Mahila Samiti ( Rain Water Harvesting)
8. Stree Shakti Mahila Samajam,Trivandrum distt. ( Lifestyle Diseases)
Great Implementation
1. Bhopal branch—Program on Communal Harmony was very well done and reported covering all the
aspects given in the guidelines
2. AIWC, East Kolkata Constituency branch - has done Anemia program with 3 review camps done as per
guidelines and reported.
3. AIWCAgra branch –has done program on Environment with school children
I am sure this will inspire many more branches to take up the programs.
I have included all the reports received till 20th December 2011, though the deadline given was up to 5th
December. You may find the highlights of the reports in the annexures; the main report can be obtained from
the MCM library.
AIWC Shares the Grief
1. Earthquake victims of North Eastern region are given help in kind worth Rs. 25,000/- through Darjeeling
branch.
2. Family members of riot victims of Amarnath Yatra Samiti are given help worth Rs. 20,000/- through
Jammu branch.
For the past one year our team has been putting on best efforts to professionalize the work on the basis of
transparency and accountability. It is true that women in our country are still deprived, discriminated and
depressed section of our society.
AIWC`s main aim of uplifting women from poverty and empowering them to attend their rightful place in
society is yet to be achieved.There is long way to go and many challenges ahead.
ButAIWC has great potentials; it has necessary resources, both human and financial. We have to match and
channelize them properly. We should be able to launch some constructive, innovative, sustainable
development oriented programs for women, which our branches can implement, with Zonal Organizers
playing the crucial role of coordinating the activities. I am sure you all will cooperate.
Let me take this opportunity to put on record my appreciation and thanks to our President, Mrs. Bina Jain, who
has not spared any efforts in providing leadership to all of us; to all our Patrons for their whole hearted support
and timely advice and guidance; to our treasurer, Mrs. Usha Nair for putting efforts to maintain transparency in
the accounts section; to Vice Presidents, to members in charge, zonal organizers, Presidents and
Secretaries of our branches, to our office staff and to all of you ,who have come from far-away places to
express your active support to our team. THANKYOUALL.

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The standing committee of the All-India Women's
Conference will meet in Kolkata to celebrate its 84th
year on January 8, and this is quite a feat in longevity
and service. With over 500 branches and
consultative status with the UN's Economic and
Social Council, as well as a steadily growing mem-
bership of over 100,000, the conference is the oldest
such organisation in the country.
However, with more professionally-run and donor-
funded NGOs taking the limelight, be it in tribal rights,
AIDS awareness or taking care of the elderly, the
question often mooted is: are such organisations still
relevant? Do models based on volunteerism — be it
mobile creches or the Indian Council for Child
Welfare — still work? These organisations were built
by women who gladly gave their time after fulfilling
duties as homemakers; now professionals with
degrees from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
the School of Oriental and African Studies, Johns
Hopkins, etc, who churn out spreadsheets and flow
charts with the databases of funding agencies on
their BlackBerrys and iPhones, hold sway.
But be it Florence Nightingale or Mother Teresa,
these so-called "underqualified" women propelled by
a "vocation" have left a great impact on our life and
times. Women like Ashoka Gupta, Kamaladevi
Chattop-adhyaya, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur,
Rameshwari Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Lakshmi Menon
and its current crop of Padma Bhushan, Sarojini
Varadappan and Shobana Ranade, have built the
AIWC.
The AIWC's founder, an Englishwoman named
Margaret Cousins, was another such woman who
answered a call to organise women's emancipation
in January 1927 in what was then called Poona.
Their mission was to impart education and free
thought to prepare them, as it were, for the bugle call
of the nation's freedom struggle. Bina Jain, herself a
grassroots worker and the AIWC's current president
argued that both tradition and volunteerism do have
a place even in the India of today. While younger
donor-driven organisations can flourish, the AIWC
has longevity — a clinching argument when applied
In praise of volunteerism, both old and new
to current personality-driven NGOs with not-so-long
histories.
In keeping with today's needs, the AIWC has
taken an important new initiative to train women
in retail, to develop a community college for the
underprivileged, and to propagate renewable
and solar energy, in addition to managing its
early mandate of working women's hostels,
widows' homes, lepers' homes and even
computer literacy courses.
The National Commission for Women was also
established in 1992 as a statutory body, due to
the persistence and struggles of women's
organisations, just as in the past the AIWC
played a significant legislative role in ensuring
the provision of universal adult franchise as well
as the passage of the Child Marriage Restraint
Act 1929, popularly known as the Sarda Act, the
Hindu Code Bill (1955-56), the Devdasi
Protection Act (1934), the Factory and Mines Act
(1948/1987), Maternity Benefits Act (1961), and
the like. It pioneered educational institutions in
1932 (AIWEFA), led to the establishment of Lady
Irwin College, India's first college of home
sciences for women; the Family Planning Centre,
established in 1937, which is now the Family
Planning Association of India; Save the Children
Committee, established in 1943, now the Indian
Council for Child Welfare; and the Cancer
Research Institute, established in 1952, now the
Cancer Institute, Chennai.
The women who created these institutions also self-
lessly dedicated themselves to the cause of
improving the lives of people in India's villages and
urban slums. So while we celebrate the "career
social worker", let's not ignore a century's
contribution by women who remain unsung and
uncelebrated for their service to the nation.
(Manju Kak is an author, women's activist and
cultural historian)
Courtsey :AsianAge, 6th Jan 2012
- Dr. Manju Kak, Member-in-charge, Media AIWC

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Vidyagauri and her sister Sharda were the first two
women graduates of Gujarat. At a time when girls
hardly went to school, these two sisters continued
their education after marriage, matriculated, went to
a co-education college and graduated in 1901.
Vidyagauri was born on 1st June 1876 in
Ahmedabad in the haveli of her maternal
grandfather, Bholanth Sarabhai Divetia who was an
eminent religious and social reformer and one of the
founders of the Gujarat Prarthna Samaj in
Ahmedabad. He had five sons and two daughters.
Vidyagauri was the daughter of Balaben, the
younger daughter. Bholanath named her Vidyagauri
after one of his heroes, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar.
Bholanath was interested both in social and religious
reforms and held that one of the chief means
whereby women could be emancipated was
education.
While Vidyagauri was still in school, she was married
at the age of thirteen to Ramanbhai, son of the
social reformer and educationist Mahipatram
Rupram Neelkanth, one of the founders of the
Prarthana Samaj in Gujarat and the first Nagar
Brahmin to go to England to study. This was
President Vidyagauri Neelkanth (1876-1958)
- Dr. Aparna Basu
extremely fortunate for had she been married into an
orthodox family, she could not have continued her
education. It was Ramanbhai's support which made
it possible for Vidyagauri to appear for her
Matriculation examination and then go on to college.
She then joined Gujarat College and graduated in
1901, topping the list of successful candidates in
Philosophy of the Bombay University.
In 1902, when the Indian National Congress held its
annual session in Ahmedabad, Vidyagauri and
Sharda sang Vande Mataram from the dais which
was quite a bold act as in those days, women from
respectable families did not sing in public.
Vidyagauri was a signatory to the Memorandum
submitted in 1917 by Margaret Cousins, Sarojini
Naidu and other leading members of the Women's
IndianAssociation to the Secretary of State for India,
Lord Montague, asking for votes for women.
She was Secretary, Vice-President or President of
numerous philanthropic, educational, literary and
women's organizations such as the Mahipatram
Rupram Anathashram (orphanage), Gujarat
Vernacular Society (now called the Gujarat Vidya
Sabha), the Prarthana Samaj, Victoria Jubilee
Hospital, Divalibai Girls' School, Ranchhodlal
Chhotalal Girls' School, Maganbhai Karamchand
Girls' School, Social ReformAssociation and Gujarat
Sahitya Sabha.. She was the first woman to be
nominated to the Ahmedabad Municipal Council and
was Vice President of the Municipality and Chairman
of the Municipal School Board. She did not aspire for
any position, honour or power but did all this social
work out of a genuine concern for the poor, the
underprivileged and the children oppressed.
Throughout her life of 82 years, she worked for the
welfare of women and children of Gujarat.
When in 1936, the Diamond Jubilee of her birth was
being celebrated inAhmedabad, Mahatma Gandhi in

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a message said, “No celebration is enough for
Vidyaben because she is an ornament of Indian
womanhood. The more we can honour her, the
better. She is an ardent social reformer but at the
same time maintains our traditions.”
Vidyagauri started the Gujarat Branch of theAll India
Women's Conference of which she was President for
many years. She was elected national President of
theAll India Women's Conference and presided over
its Lucknow session held in 1933. In her Presidential
address she said that the “the first and foremost work
that is to be taken into hands is the removal of
illiteracy. Unless and until this is done, efforts in other
directions of progress are bound to fail.. the avowed
object of our Conference is educational and social
reform.” She wanted government to introduce
compulsory primary education and suggested that
there should be more vocational schools to provide
employment and a greater variety of subjects in our
universities, such as fine arts, music and painting,
domestic science, etc. so that girls would have a
wider choice. She also emphasized the importance
of social reform. Early marriage, dowry, prohibition of
widow remarriage, polygamy, divorce laws all these
needed urgent reform and “women should leave no
stone unturned to attain the goal”. She spoke of the
need to reform the existing Hindu law of inheritance.
She said that it was no use meeting every year,
passing resolutions and then sleeping over them. It
was important that branches should try to implement
the plans and programmes chalked out throughout
the year. "Earnest endeavours for imparting
education, educating public opinion, agitating for
improvement in legislatures…are needed."
Vidyagauri was deeply committed to the cause of
women's education. She started adult education
classes for women. She was one of the founders of
the Gujarat Stree Kelavni Mandal to promote higher
education among women. It took over the
Lalshankar Umiashankar Mahila Pathshala, a girls'
college affiliated to Karve University, later known as
SNDT University. She taught in this college in
various capacities.
Apart from her work for social reform and education,
Vidyagauri was also a writer. She frequently
contributed articles to various Gujarati women's
magazines. She, together with her sister, Shardaben
Mehta, translated R.C.Dutt's The Lake of Palms into
Gujarati. She collaborated with her husband in
editing a journal, Gyan Sudha and also in writing
several books. She presided over the Gujarat
Sahitya Parishad in 1943, the first woman to do so.
She was very keen on establishing libraries all over
Gujarat. .
In 1939 the Indian National Congress, under the
Chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru set up a National
Planning Committee with Rani Laxmibai Rajwade as
President of the women's sub-committee to
formulate a women's plan. Lady Neelkanth was a
member of this sub-committee which submitted a
very radical and forward looking plan for improving
the status of women.
Vidyagauri Neelkanth devoted her whole life to the
women's cause. Girls who wanted to marry outside
their caste or not marry men chosen by their parents,
widows who wanted to re-marry, women whose
husbands or in-laws ill-treated them all came to her
for help and advice. She was active in theAIWC in its
fight to get the Sharda Bill,(raising the age of consent
of marriage), passed and was equally vocal in her
support for the Hindu Code Bill.
Adevoted wife, a loving mother, a social reformer, an
educationist, writer and a woman of remarkable
intelligence, kindness, integrity and simplicity,
Vidyagauri Neelkanth was a role model for hundreds
of girls in twentieth century Gujarat and an illustrious
President of theAll India Women's Conference.
- Dr.Aparna Basu
Palron, AIWC (grand daughter of President AIWC,
Vidyagauri Neelkanth)

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Sarala Roy (1861-1946) President, AIWC 1932
Sarala Roy was the eldest daughter of
the renowned Brahmo reformer,
Durgamohan Das and sister of
S.R.Das and Abala Bose (wife of the
famous scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra
Bose). She was a cousin of
Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das and
Sudhir Chandra Das (Chief Justice of
India). She belonged to the famous
Das family of Telirbagh, Dhaka, now in
Bangladesh. At the age of 18 she
married Dr. P.K.Roy of the Indian
Education Service who became the
first Indian Principal of Presidency College, Kolkata.
Their daughter, Charulata was married to Satish
Chandra Mukherji,ICS. Their children were Renuka
Ray, Member of Lok Sabha and Minister of Refugee
and Rehabilitation in Dr. B.C.Roy's cabinet in West
Bengal, Air Marshal Subroto Mukherji, Prashanta
Mukherji, General Manager of Bengal Nagpur
Railway and Nita Sen.
Sarala Ray was among the early students of Banga
Mahila Vidyalaya and Bethune School, the first girls'
school founded by John Drinkwater Bethune, Law
Member in Lord Dalhousie's Council, in 1849 in
Kolkata. She devoted her life to women's education.
She established a girls' school in Dhaka when her
husband was posted there. After their return to
Kolkata, she was a member of Sakhi Samiti, the first
women's association in India, established by
Swarnakumari Devi, sister of Rabindranath Tagore.
She inspired women from Bhadralok Families to take
part in dance dramas. Tagore's dance drama, Mayar
Khela was dedicated to her and it was first performed
at Bethune School.
She was very generous in her hospitality and the
drawing room of Dr. and Mrs. P.K.Roy was the
meeting place of the then leaders of political thought
and social reform, as well as of foreign scholars,
scientists, diplomats and heads of religious orders.
Mrs. Roy lived in London for some years when her
husband was posted in there as Education Advisor
to Indian students. It was during these years that she
started the Indian Women's Association with the
purpose of providing scholarships for the training of
Indian women teachers in the UK. She
met Gopal Krishna Gokhale in London
and he became a friend and mentor.
When her son died, she was in deep
depression and Gokhale asked her to
start a girls' school. After Gokhale's
death, she founded a school in 1921
and named it Gokhale Memorial Girls'
High School, an inter-provincial
institution on new educational lines,
introducing domestic science, laundry,
music, comparative religion, sports
and games for girls, subjects which till
then did not appear in the curriculum in girls' schools.
I have memories of that school as I studied there in
my early years and both my sisters studied there
from kindergarten till they passed out. Sarala Roy
was an educationist with a vision and long before the
three language formula was thought of by the
government, all students in the school had to learn
three languages- Bengali, English and Hindi. The
medium of instruction in the primary school was
Bengali but English was taught from the primary level
by English teachers. Once a week we had sports and
plays were staged once a year. School began every
morning with prayer songs of Rabindranath Tagore.
Jana Gana Mana was the school anthem long before
it became the national anthem.
Mrs. Roy was the first woman to become secretary of
the Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya. She was a member
of the Calcutta University Senate and one of the
leaders of the All India Women's Conference. She
was elected President of AIWC in 1931 to preside
over the fourth session held in Madras. In her
presidential address she emphasized that the
keynote of the Conference was educational reform.
She pointed out the deplorable condition of
women's education in India and the high rate of
illiteracy among Indian women. In her address she
outlined her ideas on women's education.
She was a pioneer for women's rights and opposed
all the injustices and oppression that women
suffered. She died in 1946 full of hounours.
- Dr. Aparna Basu, Patron AIWC

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AIWC reaches Rural Women
through its initiative of adoption of villages
- Vijaya Bhasin, Programme Manager AIWC
Empowering rural women is the base on which the
pillars of rural development stand strongly.AIWC
believes that women, especially from rural areas
need more attention as far as empowerment of
women is concerned. Village women do not have
easy access to services like health, education,
technology, legal etc.In view of these facts, focus of
AIWC's activities now is on overall development of
rural women. Programmes geared towards
awareness generation on various issues related to
health, hygiene sanitation, water, waste
management combined with literacy and income
generation activities, Aim to make women socially
and economically empowered. The other objective is
that they do not migrate to urban areas in search of
work and at the same time preserve the traditional art
and culture.
Activities for empowerment of rural women were
intensified under the programme 'Adoption of
Villages'. It is visualised that this approach would
benefit the community as a whole and women in
particular and general conditions of the village
improve
The programmes introduced in the villages aim at
mobilization of poor women and convergence of
services, by offering them a range of economic and
social options, along with necessary support
measures to enhance their capabilities It integrates
various need based programmes like literacy, health,
water, sanitation, waste management, promotion of
herbal gardens, etc. with economic activities in
villages to have an overall impact on the lives of rural
women
Sadhrana located in Gurgaon-Haryana is the first
village where AIWC started its activities in 2002.
From Delhi, it is a two hours journey. This village
narrates a success story of empowered women.
Agriculture is the main occupation in the village.
Women of the village wanted land for cultivation.
Through AIWC's intervention, women self help
groups were formed.Panchayat was contacted and
land was given on lease to these women self help
groups. The land was barren. There was no water for
irrigation and without water, land was of no use.
AIWC provided water submersible pump. The
women purchased sprinkler from self help group
money. Now they grow wheat, peas, millets,
marigold flowers, sunflowers.
There are 17 Self Help groups. According to them
now no woman is poor.
Children are getting good education. Women are
empowered. Kirani became sarpanch and from
panchayat funds she introduced many facilities in
the village like road to reach the field, toilets for
women. She fought with panchayat who were
against sending her daughter outside the village for

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higher education. Empowered as she was, she was
adamant to educate her daughter even against the
views of panchayat.Today her daughter has passed
police training and soon she will be getting posting in
Gurgaon. She tells this with great pride.
Sunita –another empowered woman is secretary of
AIWC's branch in village. Her children are also
technically qualified.
The groups are self sufficient. Herbal gardening,
Jute bag making, vemi composting are some of the
activities they have ventured into. After learning
cutting and tailoring,Gita has opened her own tent
house. Dairy farming has been taken up by
Kirani.They participate in fairs of Government by
putting their stalls and are happy.
Now this village has turned out to be a branch of
AIWC.The women are empowered stand up if any
injustice is done to any woman and are in need of
some help
Fathahabad village-West Bengal
Fathahabad village is around 40 km. away from
Calcutta. The village has 650 families consisting of
643 Muslim and 7 Hindu families.The problems of
the village are as under-
1. No drinking water/hygiene.
2. No education
3. No other work than bidi rolling or production of
fire works.
4. No control on population.
5. Trafficking and migration problems.
East Calcutta constituency branch has changed the
lives of many women bidi workers residing in this
village.The branch is working since 1st July,2010 .
Sarpanch, school teachers are working with branch
members. To start with, women bidi workers were
sensitized on the bad effects of tobacco on the
health .This was followed by providing them training
in alternate vocations .Women self help groups were
formed and the accounts of these women were
opened in banks. Now they are earning well. They
make soft toys,noodles,jewellery items from jute,
and artificial flowers.
Motivating women to shift to alternate vocations,
and sending children to schools was a big challenge,
but with concerted efforts of our members, it was
made possible. Now children and women attend
integrated literacy and skill development classes.
Other challenges in the village were related to health,
sanitation and water problems .Anemia detection
camps are conducted and medicines are provided to
anemic patients .After 3 months review camps are
conducted for assessing the status of hemoglobin.
In the village, awareness programmes are being
conducted. Through women pressure groups ,the
local panchayat bodies have been convinced to
improve conditions in of the village. Training
programmes for the adolescents on enhancing life
skills are conducted.They are given training on
subjects like health,reproductive health,HiV/Aids
,nutrition,relation building,career options etc.
Chamtagara village- West Bengal
It is a tribal village located at a remote place. It has
an overnight journey from Calcutta. Skill centered
literacy module is introduced to attract women .They
get training in skill and also become literate. Market
links are explored for selling the products. They are
learning the skills in bamboo art and fishing hooks.
This module has helped in retaining women for the
literacy.

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Children get supportive education for coping with the
school curriculum. Non formal education for 3-6 year
old children is also provided.
'PERUVAMPADAM' ST COLONY IN NILAMBUR,
KERALA.
This is the adopted village by our Nilambur Branch.
Families living in this Cluster 92
Number of Population 583
Women 287
Number of children who are Under 12 years 104
When a baseline Survey of the Colony was made it
was observed that there is high rate of illiteracy, %
age of dropouts was very high. There was extreme
poverty and exploitation of laborers. It was further
observed that not only men but women also have
habit of drinking liquor.
After adoption of the village, every day women
started coming to the centre asking for work,
education etc. men are also interested in developing
good habits and live in hygienic condition. With eight
sewing machines for cutting, tailoring classes, they
are making dresses, gowns, uniforms etc. Marketing
is not a problemin the area. The Secretary of
Nilambur Branch has very good contacts in the city
and businessmen are ready to give business to
these groups. There are 2 SHG groups. In the
Literacy class 20 students are there and in skill
training 18 students are there. On weekends they
conduct special programmes on covering women's
issues, sanitation ,health,hygiene etc.
Since it is a tribal area,women are familiar with herbal
plants. Under socio-economic programme of
AIWC,medicinal unit is functioning well and has been
linked toAyurveda hospital.
'Junoti' village- Maharashtra
In this village there are 146 tribal families and
population is 879. 95% families are below poverty
line. Since they do not have certificate, they are not
getting any benefit from Govt. Schemes.
As the village is near Nasik city,the major business is
cultivation of grapes. The business men need
laborers for the activity. They pay advance money
and force the people to work for them.
Hence most of the male members of the family are
out of village for 7-8 months and the women have to
take care of the families.
One primary school is available in the village. The
basic needs are water, sanitation, good house, some
vocational training for women, literacy program etc.
Literacy classes have been started. The women are
given training in broom making, agarbatti making
and stitching. Awareness programmes on health
nutrition etc.For adolescent girls capacity building
programme are also being conducted.
Kommargiri village-Kakinada-A.P.
This village narrates the success story of women.
who earlier worked as bonded laborers and now
through the initiative of AIWC Now they have been
freed from the hands of contractors and now they
work on their own looms and weave traditional
sarees .They are confident and are leading
independent life. They have saved the, traditional art
of weaving Jamdani sarees.
Kommargiri is a small village in East Godavari district

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23
of Andhra Pradesh.It is located at a distance of 15.
i.e. from Kakinada.
No. of households 1348
Population 5504
Men 2773
Women 2731
Cultivators 240
Agricultural laborers 1854
The success story of this village is visible in the
confident faces of women weavers who earlier
worked as bonded laborers.
AIWC in collaboration with CSWB has adopted a
village Komarigiri, in memory of Dr. Durgabai
Deshmukh on the occasion of her Centenary
celebration programme at Kakinada A.P. It was
inaugurated by Chair person CSWB,Mrs. Kariappa
in June 2009.The CSWB has sanctioned the grant in
aid for the village under the innovative scheme for
the following activities-
• Awareness generation
• Condensed course (14 passed out of 25
students who were mainly village women with
children)
• A unit of saree weaving center ( ongoing)
• A unit of coconut oil extraction ( ongoing)
The Spectrum Industry has been contacted as a part
of their CSR to that village.
The task is not yet complete. It is difficult and full of
challenges. We have to move further facing
challenges and to bring the smile on many faces. The
journey will continue drawing strength and
inspiration from our stalwarts' .It will be possible with
team of our committed workers who have strong will
power and determination.
As a finale of the AIWC Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, the pilot village project was inaugurated on 5th
March 2006. We chose this day, to coincide with International Women;s Day i.e. 8th March. As a
sequence of a resolution made at the Jubilee Session at Pune by Mrs. Kalpakam Yechury, the head office
decided to adopt a village close to the headquarters, so as to have an ‘integrated development’ at the
grass root level. AIWC intends to develop it into a model village integrating projects from sanitation to
micro-credit.
After conducting a survey of more than 10 villages aroumd Delhi (Haryana, Faridabad, Nazafgarh), the
committee decided to adopt village Sadhrana in Haryana - near Sultanpur bird sanctuary. This village has
all the problems that every other village has, but the main motivation is that the sarpanch is a woman, and
we felt that all the women were already well motivated. Smt. Bedwati, village sarpanch is a dedicated
worker for the cause of village upliftment and is willing to take up new initiatives.
AIWC was happy that women along with men attended the programme, which is very rare in this area.
Mrs. Veena Kohli, Treasurer of AIWC, thanked all the people present and the persons who made the
function a success. It was satisfying to read the reports in the press about “the sleepy village came alive
with activity”.
(From Roshni 2006)
Peep into the past 2006-Adoption of Village Sardhana

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24
- Mythily Jagannathan
Development of agriculture and alled sectors is
critical to the overall prosperity of the Indian
economy.This sector accounts for 14.2 % of the
Gross Domestic Product. It provides 58 % of
employment. In addition to food and livelihood,
agriculture provides raw material to industries, and a
vast variety of products for the consumer market.In
India as in other developing countires, women
provide 50 % of labour and skills, and supporting
services in agriculture.
It is interesting to observe that agriculture is
increasingly becoming a female activity.According to
latest estimates, it employs 80 % of working women
as compared to 63 % of all working men.The
difference is even more marked in other sectors like
dairy- 75 million women to 15 million men, and care
of livestock- 20 million women to 1.5 million men.
Despite their central role in food production and
processing, rural women continue to be in the grip of
traditional social and economic norms.The
ownership of land is almost non- existent for female
workers from small farm households. Female
labourers contribute significantly to the household
but have very little say in decision making. Lack of
education, and support services of health, access to
information and skills and finance are impediments
in finding options for gainful economic activites.
Empowering women through education and
employment
Experience of the Green Revolution showed that
improved technology often by-passed poorer and
weaker sections including women. In the 1970's,
agriculture technology advanced very rapidly
raising production and leading to a host of allied
You Can’t Ignore Rural Women
support industries, but these did not directly involve
women. Technology requiring scientific techniques
combined with the advent of a variety of farm
machinery pushed out women from traditional
seasonal work, reduced employment options, and
made them more vulnerable socially and
economically.
In the early Five Year Plans, development
programmes for women were based on non- farm
activities like Community Development Programme
(with a focus on health , child care, and nutrition).
During the Sixth Plan period (1980-85), it was
acknowledged that women were not adequately
benefiting from development programmes. This led
to the launching of schemes like DWRCA
(development scheme for women and children),
which gave giving women income- generating
options. Later, TRYSEM (for training in self-
employment in weaving, handicrafts, animal
husbandry), gave women entry into many agri-
related professions.
In the Eighth Plan, the Ministry of Agriculture
launched the scheme “Women inAgriculture” in one
district each in 7 states, this was later extended to 15
states. The aim was to motivate women to form
SHGs , provide training in agriculture technologies,
managerial and skill development, and other allied
activites for running agro- based enterprises and
services, as well as improve health and nutrition.
During the Ninth Plan new programmes like SGSRY
- Swarna Jayanti Gram Swa Rozgar Yojana, and
NREP, National Rural Employment Scheme,had a
major focus on economic empowerment of rural
women through forming SHGs for availing credit and

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25
resources for income- generation , and employment
guarantee . In all government development schemes
33% of funds are earmarked for women farmers. A
gender- based census is conducted by the Ministry
of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
The following table of a recent Census shows the
percentage of women farmers in each category of
land holding:
Size of holding % age of women owners
Marginal ( below 1 ha) .2
Small (1- 1.99 ha) 11.10
Medium (4- 9.99 ha) 7.77
Large ( 10 ha & above ) 6
Average 11.70
These figures given in the Annual Report of the
Ministry of Agriculture, 2010- 2011 show that on an
average, over a tenth of all farms are managed by
women . It highlights the critical role of women in the
nation's food security.
Both the Ninth and Tenth Five Year Plans were
committed to empowerment of rural women. Some
of the parameters for empowerment were:
*Access to credit, ownership and control over
resources
*Access to training and skills in agriculture and allied
sectors.
*Formation of womens groups was recognized as a
tenet of womens empowerment.
The national schemes are implemented through
State Governments, who also have their special
schemes/ subsidies for women farmers. Women
also have representation in Advisory bodies and
decision making government agencies at State,
District and Block level.
Implementation of several special schemes for rural
women have led to forming some policy guidelines
for empowerment of rural women:
*Decision making ability in women was directly
related to their access to technical knowledge, skills
and resources.
*Concerted efforts are needed to develop improved
technologies for farm operations performed by
women like transplanting, harvesting, cleaning of
produce etc., for reducing drudgery.
*Farm technology meetings, demonstrations and
should be fully accessible to women for enhancing
their skills and knowhow
*Farm women should be facilitated to have market
linkages to enable sale of produce for the best price.
*Strategies for women should include both on and off
farm activites as women had multiple roles in society.
*A greater investment in schemes for women is
necessary to raise agricultural production.
Conclusion
There are several instances where the provision of
skills, credit and support to women have brought
about great changes in society. The National Dairy
Development Board has 6000 women Dairy Co-
operatives managing milk production, marketing and
allied enterprises. As a result formerly ignored,
backward women are now confident business
women. An indirect result has been a decline in the
birth rate, and higher standard of living.
In an experiment in Bankura in West Bengal, a
predominantly tribal area, an NGO got wasteland
donated to a womens society, and helped to
implement a program of land regeneration, mulberry
plantation leading to a chain of silk-reeling and
marketing centres in the region, transforming lives of
tribal folk.

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26
The story of the Chipko movement in the Garhwal
sub- Himalayas is well known. Helped by an
environment NGO, women stopped the devastation
of forests, started collective ownership of plantation
nurseries, replanted forests, implementing their
own system for repairing the damage done to their
environment. The determination of women led to the
passing of Environment Protection Acts and severe
laws to punish offenders.
The SHG movement in East Godavari District of
Andhra Pradesh led to the setting up of a record
46574 SHGs with an average group earning of Rs
3000 per month. The State Bank of India , a lead
bank in SHG funding, has lent Rs 66 crores to
Census 2011 has come out with some contradicting facts which cause grave concern. The census data
reveals that though half of all Indians do not have a toilet at home, more than half own a telephone or cell
phone. Though millions in India have access to new technologies and consumer goods, a large number
lack access to basic necessities of living. Majority households own televisions and have access to up- to-
date information; yet a good number of women are still using traditional smoking fuels and they are not
aware of the new and renewable energy devices for cooking. Only less than 30% has access to safe
drinking water.
The census highlights the lack of sanitary facilities which together with the gruesome issue of the waste
accumulation can create major health problems. Lack of treated drinking water to more than 68 percent
of the population is something to be seriously considered.
Instead of politicising these issues, time has come to find out effective scientific solutions to the above life
threatening issues. Each individual and each household must realise their responsibility to keep their
surroundings clean and help in environment protection.
AIWC Tvpm Br. has started an awareness campaign to educate the public about simple scientific waste
management techniques which can be practised at the household level. We concentrate on flats and
colonies and we are networking with the local NGOs active in the field.
01/04/2012 Indira Ramakrishna Pillai
WORDS OF WISDOM
1) In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail. - Longinus
2) Deliberation is not delaying - Ancient proverb
3) What hands have built, hands can pull down - Sehilles
4) Every land is his native land to a brave man - Lycurgue
News Letter
35,000 SHGs ( 2002 figures).
It is now realized that the nations prosperity is not in
the visible growth in cities and rise in purchasing
power of urban population, but in removing the
constraints of livelihood and living conditions of rural
folk, particularly women. A number of schemes
launched through government and NGOs are
women specific and women oriented . these have
brought a slow but perceptible change in the lives of
farm women. Rural women are stepping forward in
local bodies all over India, thanks to the rise in
women’s representation from 33% to 50% in 2011.
Esentially, from being an “ object” of social change,
they are set to become an “agent” of change.

ROSHNI
27
“The Empowerment of rural women and their role in
poverty and hunger eradication “was the topic for this
year's NGO Committee on the Status of Women,
New York (CSW56). We were one of the few who got
the opportunity to conduct the workshop in
collaboration with International Federation of
Settlement (IFS) on 29th February, 2012, due to the
efforts of our permanent representative Sudha
Acharya, on Empowering Rural Women in South
Asia, a NGO Experience. The Workshop was held at
the Boss Room, 8th Floor, and 777 UN Plaza. (In her
inaugural speech, Soon-Young Yoon, Chair,
NGO/CSW Forum 2012, said that she was inspired
by over 290 applications received for the NGO
parallel event.)
The topic was very close to my heart and therefore,
we decided to participate in this major event. The
announcement about the 56th CSW was made in our
Annual Meeting at Kolkata and the following
delegates attended the event.
President Mrs Bina Jain, (Leader of theTeam)
Secretary General, Mrs. Sheila Kakde,
Vice President, Mrs.Asha Deshpande,
Member in chargeYouth, Mrs. ShvetaTalwar,
Standing Committee Member Mrs. Ananya
Dasgupta, Village representative, Mrs.Ashvini
Kshirsagar .
Report on My visit to New York for the 56th CSW and
our Workshop held there.
24th February to 29th February, 2012
By Mrs. Bina Jain
We arrived in New York on 24th evening and
checked into the hotel, which was quite comfortable,
thanks to the efforts of our dear friend Sudha
Acharya, who had made our bookings. The weather
God was on our side, as we were welcomed by
pleasant weather and the weather continued to be
pleasant throughout our stay.
25th February was the Registration Day. We
completed all the formalities.
26th February, 2012 was the Consultation Day for
the delegates. It was a grand event, where most of
the delegates from all over the world had gathered.
Ms.Nyaradazi Gumbongvanda, Chairperson,
NGO/CSW, Geneva presided over one session of
the event. The whole day was highly absorbing as
various grass root workers from rural areas,
including the sister of the Chairperson, shared their
real life experiences, with heart rendering stories of
their struggle to reach where they were at present.
27th February 2012, was the formal inauguration of
the UN Session Entry was by pass, and only one
pass per organisation was given.
We took turns to attend the same so that all of us
could attend for a while. It was a great experience to
see a gathering of almost 4500 people from different
parts of the world. It was noticed that three
generations were present in the group. There was a

ROSHNI
28
large number of Youth who were taking a lot of
interest in all the activities.
I attended the meeting where discussion about the
5th World Conference of women was held, along
with Sudha Acharya. We have now received
confirmation that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-
Moon and the president of the 66th session of the UN
General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
proposed the idea of holding a global conference on
women's issues in 2015, The joint announcement
was released on the International Women's Day.
On 28th February we participated in the side event
of IAW on “Innovative Approach to Economic
Development of Rural Women”. I was one of the 3
Speakers in the event, the paper submitted by me
on the AIWC activities and approach to Rural
Development was highly appreciated by all. There
was a lot of discussion on the paper, and question
and answer session. Even during the next day's
session, people came forward to congratulate me on
AIWC's approach to Rural Development. We had
carried a booklet on the programmes done by us for
the Millennium Goals and distributed among
participants. Lot of photographs of different activities
run by our branches were displayed
Side events were held on various topics like gender
equality, political empowerment, rural women and
girl's education, at various venues, which were
attended by our Members.
Our workshop on Empowering Rural Women in
South Asia, a NGO Experience, held on 29th
February was a grand success. Dr. Afaf Mahfouz,
Former President, Conference of NGOs (CoNGO)
was the Moderator. I presented the welcome
address as President, AIWC. Dr Bobbi Nassar,
Permanent Representative to the UN, IFS.
welcomed the gathering. Speakers included;
Prof.Johanna Sterbin, International Federation of
Women Lawyers, Ms Nirmala Mohan Kumar, from
Sri Lanka, Ms Sarala Gopalan, All India Federation
of Women's Association, Ms Ashwini Kshirsagar,
Head of Panchayat , grass root worker, Ms Sheela
Kakde, Secretary General, AIWC, Ms Asha
Deshpande, Vice President,AIWC.
The workshop focussed on the initiatives taken by
AIWC towards achieving the objective of
Empowerment of Rural Women and their role in
poverty and hunger eradication
Our decision to take Ashwini Kshirsagar, Head of
Panchayat as a representative of the empowered
rural women was highly appreciated by all. This
experience makes us believe that we should
encourage more and more such representation by
rural women in major events, which will make them
confident and to be on par with their urban
counterparts she shared her real life experience in
her own language, which was translated by Asha
Deshpande in English.
A documentary film highlighting the activities of
AIWC in remote rural/tribal villages of West Bengal
and Sadhrana Village in India was screened, which
was viewed with keen interest by all the participants
with rapt attention. This was followed by a lot of
discussion and question and answer sessions.
We are grateful to Shantanu Kakde for his kind help
in taking a video of our Workshop. The event was
telecast byTVAsia on 3rd March in the US.

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Workshop on Empowerment of Rural Women
and their role in poverty and hunger eradication.
29th February, 2012 at New York
Welcome Address by President , Mrs. Bina Jain
All India Women's Conference was established in
1927 with a main focus on Education of Women.
Over the years it was felt that education was not the
only tool for women empowerment; focus area was
therefore widened so as to include overall socio-
economic empowerment of women through various
activities all over the country.
The word WOMAN is so powerful. If I say that
women have played a role more important than men
since eternity, it is no exaggeration.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru once rightly said, “You can
tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of
its women”.
We completely subscribe to this belief and steps are
being taken to further improve the condition of rural
women in India.
The world would not have been such a lovely and
liveable place without the selfless contribution made
by women.
It has been said that, you teach a female and you
build up a nation, and the truth can't be closer than
that.
Women have always played the role of a wife,
mother, sister all on their own and magnificently
carried on this position.
Unfortunately things have not remained the same in
the last few decades or even centuries.
Women have begun to be considered less
powerful and, in recent times, have been relegated
to a secondary position in society as compared to
men. The situation, however, is not entirely bleak,
thanks to the efforts of government, NGOs, social
welfare organizations and many such institutions
that have contributed immensely in bringing about
a drastic improvement in their condition.
Many private corporate bodies have also taken a
keen interest in improving the economic status of
women with very encouraging results.
Urban women in India always had more advantages
and opportunities than women residing in rural
areas. Easy access to modern education,
technology, economic resources, medical facilities,
etc. are examples in this respect.
But despite being deprived of the basic facilities in
life, rural women have made some improvement in
various dimensions of life, though the ultimate goal
of attaining complete empowerment is still far away.
The time has come now where our focus should shift
to the overall development of rural women. To
ensure that they attain economic empowerment
without migrating to urban areas, several
programmes have been undertaken by AIWC,
examples of which are:
Self Help Groups, (leased land for cultivation)
vocational training programmes,(cutting tailoring,
beauty culture) income generation opportunities,
(dairy farming, handicrafts etc).
We will now show you a documentary on the
activities ofAIWC in remote tribal villages of India.
We have with us here Smt Ashwini Kshirsagar, a
Panchayati head (Head of village level local
governance) from one of the remote villages of
Maharashtra. She will share with us her real life
experience of how she empowered herself to reach
this level and how she helped women in her village.
After that Mrs Sheela Kakde our Secretary General
and Mrs Asha Deshpande our Vice President will
elaborate on the endeavours of AIWC in various
fields.

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Innovative Approaches for Economic
Development of Rural Women
- Presentation made by Mrs. Bina Jain, President AIWC at a workshop - UN Conference New York
Millions of women in our hamlets know what
unemployment means. Give them access to
economic activities and they will have access to
power and self-confidence to which hitherto have
been stranger
- Mahatma Gandhi
Economic empowerment of women is fundamental
to their overall empowerment. It implies a better
quality of material life through sustainable
livelihoods, owned and managed by women. Poverty
is not to be looked in isolation. In a country like India,
where the gender divide and the inequalities
between men and women is so wide, providing the
skill and the opportunity to be economically self
sufficient must go hand in hand with social and
political empowerment.
In rural India, the Indian population is 48.1% women
and 51.9% men and female illiteracy is 62% whereas
the male illiteracy rate is 34%. The labour force
participation rate of women is 22.7%, less than half of
the men's rate of 51.6%.In rural India, agriculture and
allied industrial sectors employ as much as 89.5% of
the total female labour.Women have extensive work
loads with dual responsibility for farm and household
production.Women's work is getting harder and
more time-consuming due to ecological degradation
and changing agricultural technologies and
practices.Women have an active role and extensive
involvement in livestock production, forest resource
use and fishery processing.Women spend up to six
hours a day bringing water from ponds,rivers,wells.
Within the framework of a democratic policy, our
laws, development policies, plans and programmes
have aimed at women's advancement in different
sphere. The women's movement and a wide-spread
network of non-Government Organizations which
have strong grass-roots presence and deep insight
into women's concerns have contributed in inspiring
initiatives for the empowerment of women.However,
there still exists a wide gap between the goals
enunciated in the Constitution, legislation, policies,
plans, programmes, and related mechanisms on the
one hand and the situational reality of the status of
women in India, on the other hand.
Women have to pay in various ways for the fault of
their men counterparts. Further, they do not have a
direct standing in the credit market, either formal or
informal. The vulnerability of women in this area is
exacerbated by several predominant factors, for
example massive illiteracy, rigid and conservative
customs and traditions, rampant corruption at all
levels of formal sources, integrated operation of local
political interests, and many more such factors. In
most of the villages where regular scarce food
situation prevails, it leaves no alternative for the poor
communities than to fall prey to the moneylenders.
The Women's Self Help Group is a movement in
itself. Women who have never stepped out from
within the four walls of their homes converge to form
small bands of saving groups in an effort to confront
the looming problem of access to credit for taking
minimal care of their family needs. This is a story of
all self help groups run by NGOs. These women
have imbibed a spirit of discipline, unity and empathy
for fellow beings. The SHGs have equipped the
women with decision making power and promoted
self-reliance. This has helped to build capacity of
poor and disadvantaged women to overcome
economic, social and cultural barriers. It has also
helped to empower women to work together with
men as equal partners and to inspire a new

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31
generation of women and men to work together for
equality, sustainable development and communal
harmony.
AIWC's objective for rural development is to
discourage migration of rural women to cities and
encourage them to stay there by participating in the
developmental activities. It has a vast experience of
working with the rural poor women, making them
aware of their inert abilities and encouraging
leadership qualities, striving towards a better quality
of life. Along with this we have endeavoured to
include responsible community living towards
building a better society. Self Help Groups have
proved to be an effective tool for poverty alleviation
and empowerment of women.
AIWC has around 2800 Women self help groups in
the rural and the semi-urban areas, monitored and
facilitated by the branches. These groups are made
keeping in view the interests, and needs of the
women.The SHGs have proved instrumental in
assimilation and dissemination of knowledge about
health, nutrition, literacy, women's rights, child care,
education, adoption of new agricultural practices,
farm and non farm sector economic activities etc.
and pave the way for increased participation of
women in decision making in households,
community and the local democratic set up besides
keeping to prepare women to take up leadership
position
AIWC has adopted an integrated and holistic
approach for community development by adopting
the villages.
We have selected those villages which are either
tribal or very poor with minimal or negligible
facilities.The spirit behind this programme is to stop
migration of rural women to cities in search of work
and encourage them to stay in villages and
contribute towards village development.
The programmes introduced in the villages aim at
mobilization of poor women and convergence of
services, by offering them a range of economic and
social options, along with necessary support
measures to enhance their capabilities
The following results are envisioned along with
economic independence-
· Making women's contribution to society visible
· Affirming women's knowledge, skills and
experience in other areas of this involvement
· Creating a social environment that gives women
self-esteem and self-confidence
· Providing opportunities for empowering
education to girls and women and providing
support to them to move into non-traditional
roles and take decisions about themselves.
· Enhancing women's participation in political
processes at all levels.
· Making facilities and resources available and
accessible
The strategy is-
It integrates various need based programmes like
literacy, health, water, sanitation, waste
management, promotion of herbal gardens, etc. with
economic activities in villages to have an overall
impact on the lives of rural women. Poverty is the
general base of tribal existence in India, which arises
due to economic as well as non-economic factors.
Some of these factors are low agricultural
productivity, shifting cultivation, land alienation,

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indebtedness, lack of irrigational facilities, low
educational status, poor health condition,
malnutrition, diseases, isolation and exploitation by
traders and marginalization. Centuries of social
repression have engendered in them a feeling of
inferiority and it is not surprising that they have lost all
confidence in themselves. Through our programmes
we are receiving very encouraging response from
the beneficiaries.
Some of the income generating activities that were
need based have contributed a lot in improving the
economic conditions of our rural women in the
villages are-
· Tussar silk reeling
· Bamboo craft
· Herbal medicinal units
· Saree weaving units
· Herbal water
· Waste management (Generating electricity for
the toilet compound with Bio-gas)
· Repair and maintenance of solar devices
· Saree Weaving and coconut oil extraction
· Coir products preparation
· Tailoring and embroidery
· Solar drying of fruits and vegetables
· Food Processing (masala, pickle, jam etc.)
· Catering services
· Sanitary Napkin making
· Umbrella making
· Pottery making
· Floriculture
· Agriculture
· Cattle Rearing and Dairy Farming
I would like to quote a few case studies-
Village Sadhrana, Gurgaon-
The village was adopted in 2002.It is a success story
of economic and social empowerment of more than
200 beneficiaries. The women, once hesitant to
come out from their houses and reluctant to uncover
their faces ,today have emerged as confident
women who can speak before august
audience.Activities were all designed to empower
the rural communities to organise themselves for
t h e i r o w n p e r s o n a l a n d c o m m u n a l
empowerment.Through 17 SHGs,they have started
various activities through bank loan.
They manage agriculture.Land was taken on lease
from the panchayat. The land was barren.Water
pump was provided byAIWC and group on their own
n contributed for water sprinkler for irrigation. The
land has become fertile and crops of wheat,millets
,peas,marigold and sunflowers are grown
.Accordingto the groups “ No one is poor now”
The other groups mange milk dairy,Tent house,jute
bag making
One lady became sarpanch in panchayat and
initiated work to improve the sanitary conditions of
the village,construction of roads,water,electricity etc.
The women fight for their rights.Girls are getting
educated outside the village.One girl against the
panchayat 's views joined police training.The women
stand against discrimination and violence against
women.
Komaragiri village
AIWC in collaboration with CSWB has adopted a
village Komaragiri, in memory of Dr. Durgabai
Deshmukh on the occasion of her Centenary
celebration programme at Kakinada A.P. in June
2009.The village is inhabited by weavers who used
to work as bonded laborers. Through our programme
they have been freed from the hands of contractors
and now they work on their own looms and weave
traditional sarees.The other group of women
manage coconut oil extraction unit. Women have
attended condensed courses and participated in
many awareness programmes on health, nutrition,
sanitation and waste management.
The Spectrum Industry has been contacted as a part
of their CSR to that village. coordinative committee
consisting of spectrum, AIWC Secretary and local
village person look after the programs

ROSHNI
33
PERUVAMPADAM ST' COLONY IN NILAMBUR,
KERALA.
In Kerala, the magnitude of tribal population (1.1%) is
less than that of the national average (7%) and many
targeted programmes have been implemented with
a focus on the social and economic development of
the tribal population. However, most of the tribals in
Kerala are still marginalized and isolated from the
mainstream and lead a life marked by hunger and
deprivation. The basic lacuna observed in these
development programmes are the lack of 'people
centered approach'. Further most of these
programmes are not on the basis of the needs of the
target population and it is possible that the target
group is not properly aware of the facilities provided
by the Government. It is also possible that in some
cases that the people living in an isolated area in their
own traditional way do not adopt the new techniques
immediately because of the fear that it may also
destroy them as the policies of the white people did in
the past.
In response to the complex set of conditions that
results in gender inequity, poverty and limited access
to resources for development, efforts have been
initiated to strengthen tribal women of Nilambur by
providing training and awareness programme for
income generation activities usingnatural resource
management viz. medicinal plants cultivation, and
setting up of herbal medicinal unit. Women of this
region are aware about biological diversity and rich in
indigenous knowledge of natural resource and its
management on which they depend for livelihoods.
Women are earning money, they have become
literate and aware of their rights. They wanted to
learn computer and we have provided them.The
medicinal unit has been attached to Ayurveda
hospital and medicines are sold to the hospital.
Achievements
Besides improving the economic status and
preservation of our art and culture and environment,
these endeavors have helped in curbing many social
evils like castism, freeing women from the clutches of
money lenders and bonded labor.
AIWC in collaboration with Ministry of Water
Resources, Government of India, organized 30 TOT
programmes for grass root level workers and created
a resource pool of 900 women trainers. The
programme covered women from all over India.
We are happy to know from our Bankura Branch how
this TOT has influenced the local society. This
branch is dominated by the tribal and backward class
people. They were not allowed to go to certain
classes for collection of water. But now after this
training, the men and women belonging to certain
class are coming to these tribal to get their water
tested and to know other techniques of water
harvesting.
One of our branches at Trivandrum, has
experimented bottling herbal water. It has become
an economic activity for them. They sell solar treated
water in pouches. This helps them to earn money.
We are also promoting rain water harvesting.
This programme also has helped in the eradication of
caste system that is very common in the remote
areas. So it had social effect also in bringing the
different castes together. Now they are entering the
houses of certain classes to test water whereas
earlier they were not allowed to even collect water
from certain classes
1300 women were made literate while learning skills
that ensured that they become financially
independent
800 women bidi workers were sensitized on ill
effects of tobacco that is rolled in bidis and were
given training in health friendly alternate vocations.
Self help groups were made and now they are
preparing goods and selling also on their
own.Fathhabad and Junoti villages have been
adopted by AIWC Women are able to fight for their
rights and entitlements and have emerged as force
to be reckoned with.

ROSHNI
34
The contingent of six delegates of All India Women's
Conference landed at New York on 24th February,
2012 with President, Smt. Bina Jain in the lead to
attend the United Nations Commission on the Status
of Women, CSW56. The Secretary General, Smt.
Sheela Kakde, Vice-President, Smt. Asha
Deshpande ,Member-in-Charge Youth Affairs, Smt.
Shevata Rai Talwar, Ms. Ananya Dasgputa & rural
empowered woman Ashwini Kshirsagar were the
other members. Smt. Sudha Acharya, AIWC's
permanent representative at UN joined us there.
The Commission on the Status of Women was
established in 1946 by the economic & social council
to prepare recommendations and reports for the
council on promoting women's rights in political,
economic, civil, social & educational fields. The
session was from 27th February, 2012 till 9th March,
2012.
After settling down at the Hotel Affinia Shelburn on
Lexington Avenue, 37th Street we got our photo
identities done on 25th February at United Nations
main building. On 26th February was the
consultation day program at the Salvation Army, 120
West, 24th Street, from 9.00 a.m. till 5.00 p.m. All
were registered and could get the feeling of
international meetings. The children of National
Dance Institute in colourful dresses welcomed all the
delegates. Then the chairman of NGO CSW New
York, Soon Young Yoon formerly welcomed all. She
is the UN representative for the InternationalAlliance
of Women. Leyman Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize
United Nations Commission on the
status of women, CSW 56 - an experience
- Sheela Kakde, Secretary General, AIWC
Laureate gave the special guest address. Message
of Executive Director, UN Women Michelle Bachelte
was presented. Chairperson of NGO CSW Geneva,
Nyaradzai Gumbouzvanda was the moderator of the
panel discussion on Rural Women. Various eminent
speakers from all over the world presented their
views. Later training for Rural women leaders who
had come, was arranged to give some boost to them.
Ashvini Kshirsagar's participation enhanced her
skills. Orientation for new participants to the CSW
was also done. Advocacy training arranged by
Bahai centre on Gender Equality was attended by
other members.
On 27th February at 10.00 a.m. – The UN session
was formlly inaugurated at the UN assembly hall.
The admission was restricted with secondary pass.
But all of us could attend turn by turn and felt
elevated.
The schedule of all the events, and topics was given
to all who registered and hence could attend the
session of our choice. There were various topics,
innumerable speakers, lot of NGO presenting their
workshops. It seemed that this fortnight was
storehouse of information, knowledge and
participation for.
• NGO sponsored events, conversation circles on
different topics like Peace & Security/Violence
against Women, Health, Ageing, Migration,
Communications, Social Media & Arts, Family,
Trafficking in women & girls. Intergenerational

January march final

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