Workshop:

Dr. Swati Alok and I conducted awareness programmes on 24^th-25^th February, 2019 and 3^rd-4^th March, 2019 regarding women’s rights, various central and state government schemes introduced for their social upliftment and financial independence and child nutrition in government schools of Mazidpur and Malkaram respectively. The Mazidpur training programme constituted women and children from Mazidpur and Adraspalle and the Malkaram training programme constituted women and children from Malkaram and Antaipalle. There we interacted with women and gave them awareness about different social, and financial schemes to make them stronger socially and financially and also about the important legal rights which they should know.

Two Asha workers were present there during each of the training programmes. It was observed that very few women got benefits from Indira Gandhi Matritva Shayog Yojana (IGMSY). Many were aware of the KCR kit and few availed the same but they were not aware of the Amma Odi scheme which is a part of the earlier scheme. Regarding the Arogya Lakshmi scheme provided by the Telangana state, the benefits should be given up to 6 years but most are getting it only up to 3 years. We distributed the detailed menu of one full meal provided under this scheme. Kalyana Lakshmi/ Shadi Mubarak gives financial assistance to brides during their wedding if they belong to the SC, ST and OBC categories and this was availed by a few women belonging to the Muslim community in Malkaram. For most of the schemes, as they are not educated and they can’t understand the instructions written down on application forms, they are unable to apply for these schemes. Also, they are not getting help from the Anganwadi centres regarding the application form submission and information about various schemes. They will just tell them to read about these programmes put on the noticeboard. But as most of them are illiterate, they are not able to read and as a result, the benefits of all these schemes are not reaching them. Also, we came to know the fact that some of the girls over there are not allowed to go to school after they attained puberty.

Only one woman among them knew about Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) in Malkaram. Apart from these, they were made aware of SABALA SCHEME, the One Stop Center (Sakhi) scheme, Swadhar Greh, and She teams. There is one active Self-Help Group (SHG) which is given the name “Mahila Sangam” in Malkaram. But not everyone is a member of SHG. They are interested in forming SHGs but they are not aware of the working and also there is no one to guide them regarding the functioning. Also, some of them are not ready to work with people whom they don’t know. They were also introduced to Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) and Annapurna scheme which is a loan provided by BMB to start a food catering business. Apart from these social and financial schemes, some essential legal rights were also introduced to them as they were totally unaware of the same. After the session, all the women who participated in the programme were given purses which symbolise their financial independence as a motivation.

  

The next session in both months was with children. They were asked to maintain a nutritious diet which includes vegetables, fruits and food which provides them with the essential vitamins needed for their growth. They were told to have proper hygiene which includes washing their hands using soap after using toilets and before taking meals, taking bath every day, keeping their surroundings clean, brushing their teeth etc. We suggested the girls to continue their studies and asked them about their dreams. They were responding well and were active. We discussed with them the necessary vitamins which they should include in their food to be healthy. Along with the explanation about vitamins and the need for following good hygiene, videos related to good diet and hygiene were shown to them. They were very enthusiastic and were very interested to listen to them. After the session, they were given gifts which included lunch boxes, soaps and stationery items.

Media Coverage

There was media coverage for the training programme in Malkaram. Three local newspapers published about the fieldwork on 8th March 2019.