Rashtra Sevika Samiti, which is a part of Rashtriya Swayam Sevaka Sangha, has chalked out plans to empower the lives of women who lost their husbands or men in their families in the recent flood at Uttarkhand.
The Samiti would make arrangements for re-marriage of interested widows and also provide occasional trainings to women as a step towards self-employment, said Rashtra Sevika Samiti Pramukh Sanchalika Shantha Kumari.
Addressing mediapersons on Wednesday, she said that a team of volunteers has already visited two villages near Uttarkashi and Dehradun. According to an estimation, over 3,000 men have lost their lives or have gone missing in the flood, due to which women of those families are facing trouble. Sevika Samiti will give top most priority towards making the women independent and providing education to children.
A plan has been chalked out to provide occasional training to women in five villages, she said.
Emphasising the need for women to learn the art of self-defence, the Samiti chief said that the Samiti has undertaken Athma Suraksha Yojane in various educational institutions, where students are taught Karate and sword fight for self-defence against molestation and sexual harassment.
“There has been an increase in the incidents of sexual harassment on women. Along with the change in mindset of men, there is also a need for women to change the way they portray themselves. Men must learn to restrain themselves, while women must not carry an attitude of instigating them. There is need for reform in the mindset of both the genders,” she said.
Workshops
Meanwhile, she briefed about some of the initiatives taken up by the Samiti and said, the Samiti is running 23 hostels for girls and orphans across the country, including one in Bangalore. Nearly 650 students are staying in these hostels. The Samiti has now taken up two programmes, namely Kishori Shibira and workshop for women professionals.
As many as 1,500 camps will be organised for adolescent girls across the nation, of which 875 camps have been already held. Of the 150 workshops aimed for professionals, 70 workshops have been completed, she said.
Later delivering a talk at Vibhag Sanghik of Rashtra Sevika Samiti at Sangha Nikethan in the city, Shantha Kumari pointed at the need to change the way we think.
“There should be modernity in thought, but blindly following western culture in the name of modernity will not serve the purpose,” she said.
MRPL Deputy General Manager Lakshmi Kumaran presided over the programme. Apart from the regular exercises, student volunteers performed the art of self-defence on the occasion.