Actively supported by the department of Mission Shakti, women self-help groups (WSHGs) in Odisha have been taking up new challenges and scripting amazing success stories. The latest job entrusted to them in Bargarh is running an e-rickshaw service in the town to ferry patients to and from the district headquarters hospital.
Sources said that an amount of Rs.15 lakh has been sanctioned from district mineral foundation (DMF) to procure the e-rickshaws and a group of 10 women have been selected from an SHG for driving the vehicles. These women were trained by Rural Self Employment Training Institute and engaged in driving the e-rickshaws. Each of them is collecting around Rs. 400 as fare on an average daily.
The women driving these rickshaws are happy and admit that the initiative has helped boost their confidence while making them self-reliant. The people of Bargarh have also welcomed the move and praised the women for not only running the service efficiently but also charging reasonable fare from passengers, much less than what the local auto drivers used to take from them.
In January 2020, Bargarh district headquarters hospital (DHH) was shifted to its new building in Tukurla area on the outskirts of the town. With the hospital moving about 7 kms from the town centre, people had a hard time commuting. For all such people, the new all-women rickshaw service has come as a big relief. The administration has also set up two charging stations to ensure that the service providers do not face any inconvenience. Plans are afoot to add 10 more e-rickshaws to the existing fleet and ply them on other routes in the western Odisha town.
With commissioner-cum-secretary of Mission Shakti department Sujata R Karthikeyan playing the role of a catalyst, the job portfolio of women self-help groups has been diversified and now they are entering new areas on a regular basis. There was a time when these groups engaged only in making ‘badi’ (sun-dried lentil dumpling) and ‘papad’, but now they are running mid-day meal services in schools and even collecting water bills in some of the urban areas of the state.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik himself has been paying special attention to the growth of women SHGs by extending them all possible support. The conversion of the erstwhile Directorate of Mission Shakti into a full-fledged department itself is proof that his government attaches great importance to the income-generating activities of these groups. The government looks at these collectives as a tool for the empowerment of women, one that gives them a new and independent identity. The ambit of their activities is likely to expand further in the future and they are certain to achieve new milestones.
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