Welfare Foundation
The DIVYAKANTI WELFARE FOUNDATION .. was founded with the sole aim to start and support such initiatives by which socially and economically marginalized women irrespective of their age, caste, class or race should be able to actively participate in their development –process and consequently, lead a life of dignity and self-respect. The role and status of women have varied greatly over the ages, and usually it has dwelled on opposite extremes. While on one hand, women have seen absolute freedom and autonomy, a different group of women have been subjected to utter subservience. Despite all the official proclamations that are made regarding women empowerment and the numerous government grants and schemes that claim to emancipate women from their many maladies, their present condition demands concern. Of course, it is undeniable that the Indian Government has taken considerable measures to uplift the women community socially, economically and politically, yet the combined effect of many unfavourable factors have rendered them to inefficacy on many fronts. The main thrust of DIVYAKANTI WELFARE FOUNDATION.. programs is to create a new paradigm for development, which evolves from the new awareness about women’s empowerment programs, and the worldwide implementation of such things as mobilization of NGOs, governments and the media to spread the women welfare awareness and educate the public at large on effective measures such as human right to equality, peace, health care and better opportunities, protective skills and the right to dignity.
Through various programs of sustainable development, DIVYAKANTI WELFARE FOUNDATION.. promotes and facilitates women organizations and women networking. The members share information, participate in face-to-face and online media, collaborates in various DIVYAKANTI WELFARE FOUNDATION.., NGO,s and Government activities and participates in general planning. It has now become the landmark for women’s rights in India, the centre for women-centric activities, information-provider as well as solution-provider for women’s difficulties, as well as the research centre for women-related issues. Its basic objective is to create a platform of women’s interests for the overall betterment of society.
The various projects undertaken by DIVYAKANTI WELFARE FOUNDATION.. include Women Education Awareness Generation Programs, HIV/AIDS Awareness programs, Welfare for Widows, Campaign against Child Marriage, Education and Training Programs, Campaign Against Trafficking and Prostitution, Rehabilitation of rape victims, prostitutes etc., Self-Help Group Projects, Women and Child Health and many others. The approval of projects go through number of steps, starting with the online submission of the project, followed by its summary appraisal, submission of the detailed project report and its appraisal, survey report evaluation, board appraisal, sanction of grants and finally the disbursal of funds.
Thus, it functions with a vision to create a platform around the issues of gender justice, economic empowerment and equal participation of women in all walks of life, for the progress of society, culture and the nation as a whole. Its works to achieve its mission of developing a local, national and global communication system and support network to establish links between governmental policies/schemes and foundation who share Mission for Women’s Welfare Vision and to reach women who are socially, culturally and geographically isolated.
There is no doubt that education is a reliable indicator of development. Every developed nation in the world has a high, if not a perfect literacy rate. While India has been on the fast track to development, literacy in the country has not grown with the same momentum. This is particularly so in the case of women’s literacy. The fact that women’s literacy is still several paces behind men’s literacy in India is borne out by the statistics. As per 2001 Census data, male literacy rate was 75.26% whereas female literacy was an abysmal 53.67%. Ten years later as per the 2011 Census data, male literacy rate has increased to 82.14% while female literacy rate has risen more sharply to 65.46% but still there is lot more scope of improvement.
Numerous national and international studies have underscored the importance of women’s education in India. Significant among them is the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination in 1993, the UNICEF report on the Conference on Education of All Girls in 1992 and the Education for ALL initiative sponsored by UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the UNDP in 1990.
At the national level, ever since India gained Independence, every Five Year Plan has undertaken programmes and policies for education in India, particularly women’s education. The Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97) recommended the adoption of two National Plans for Action; one for children and the other specifically for the girl child. The Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007) initiated a programme called the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” with the purpose of ensuring that all children below the age of 14 should be in school and should remain in school for 5 years, till 2007.
Reports on the results of the literacy programmes suggest that women’s education has increased enrollment of girls in schools, increasing their self-confidence and empowerment and vastly improving their status within the family. Women’s education programmes, in the long run, have seen more women in entrepreneurship, leading to increased household savings and credit reach.
Literacy programmes under the National Adult Education and the National Literacy Mission in Durg district in Madhya Pradesh known specifically as the Durg District Literacy Campaign has displayed remarkable results of functional literacy programmes in the district. At the onset of the programme in 1990, more than 50% of the female population in the district was illiterate. By the end of the 10 year programme, 81.5% of the total participants were able to complete the programme.
The impact of this education programme became visible with an exceptional development of women’s empowerment. After their participation in the adult education programs, women were seen to be more confident and more involved in the decision making process, particularly with regard to the children. The women in the district also shed the garb of home-makers to take on the roles of decision makers in the villages and towns. While in one village, a group of women took on the management of the weekly market; in another, a women’s group entered into the business of catering and renting tents for weddings.
More importantly, rather than stopping at becoming merely wage earners, women in these far flung villages started demanding their rights. In village Dev Pandu, for instance, women pressurized the administration to build a road and a school in the village. It was a result of the women’s endeavours that the administration built a 9-km long road and a school, appointing a teacher even though there were only 18 children. The newly educated women even went on to establish co-operative banks called “Didi Banks” to encourage other women entrepreneurs in the district. There is obviously no contesting the fact that education has been the life-changing experience in Durg. It is also not the only case where far-reaching results of this kind have been witnessed. In every situation, education has had a tremendous positive impact, not only in the lives of the women, but on society as a whole.