JOIN USIIT-M students launch campaign to help empower women during pandemic
Students at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) have launched “She Can”, an online campaign, to help women by creating awareness about opportunities in education, upskilling, and financial literacy.
The online career guidance sessions were held for girl students from schools and colleges in addition to financial literacy sessions for women working in unorganised sector. Sessions on financial management were also conducted for working women in Mumbai and Chennai as part of the efforts to help them adapt to the ‘New Normal’ created by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The campaign was part of annual tech festival Shaastra, which does a social outreach every year wherein students interact with schools in and around the city for various social activities.
“This year, even being constrained by the pandemic, the students came up with a brilliant idea of ‘She Can’. Initially, it felt to be an ambitious project but the students pulled all the strings and made it a reality. This is a campaign where we all need to be part of and I am happy that students have taken it up. I congratulate the students’ team and thank all to be a part of the initiative,” Prof Shaikh Faruque Ali, Faculty Advisor, Shaastra 2021, IIT Madras, said.
The campaign launch was launched virtually on 3rd January 2020 with a panel discussion of eminent women from various walks of life. A release from IIT-M said students organised three career guidance sessions for over 190 girl students from schools across the country.
Further, financial literacy sessions were also conducted for over 85 women working in the unorganised sector in two different languages (Marathi and Tamil) during the lockdown period. The IIT Madras students are also creating awareness about essential financial concepts such as ‘budgeting’ and ‘banking’ in the upcoming months.