Women SHGs should become movement of leadership of social change

Bhopal: Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that women self-help-groups should become the movement of the leadership of social change in the state. Women self-help-groups will be made a movement of women empowerment.

Poverty will be eliminated by linking the women members of these self-help-groups with employment. Women self-help-groups have become leaders of social change in the state. Chief Minister Chouhan was addressing a women self-help-group sammelan here at the CM House today. Women members of self-help-groups constituted under Madhya Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission took part in the sammelan. Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Gopal Bhargav was present at the sammelan.

CM Chouhan said that the one lakh 69 thousand self-help-groups working in state under the Livelihood Mission should work committedly to eliminate the stigma of poverty from the state. The movement of the Women self-help groups of Madhya Pradesh will set an example all over the world. Women from the self-help groups have developed leadership capacity in the Livelihood Mission. All poor women of the state will be linked to self-help-groups. A strategy for distribution and publicity of the products made by the self-help groups will be made. A suggestion to give the work of manufacturing school uniforms to these self-help-groups would be considered. Arrangement to purchase self-help-group products will be made in government purchase. Place for self-help-groups products will be fixed in big shopping malls. Difficulties faced by self-help groups in procuring loans from banks and finance from micro finance companies would be removed. He urged women members that they should pay special attention to the education of their children.

State government has initiated the Medhavi Vidyarthi Yojana under which government will pay the fees of children who secure more than 75 percent marks in 12th for their admission in higher education institutions. Women self-help-group sammelans will be organized in all districts.

Informal discussion with women members of self-help groups

Women members of self-help groups put forth their viewpoint, discussed their activities, difficulties being faced by them and gave suggestions during an informal discussion in the programme. The women members said that buildings should be constructed in the villages for meeting of self-help groups. One day should be fixed in banks for women of self-help groups to withdraw funds. Bank sakhi should be appointed in all banks. Livelihood Mission products should be known by a specific name in the market. Names of daughters should be added in land rights. Computer training facility should be provided for self-help groups. Arrangement for sale of products of SHGs should be made in shopping malls. The overdraft limit of self-help groups should be increased. Seed storage centres should be proposed in villages.

Proposals by women should be heard in gram sabhas and action should be taken accordingly in gram panchayats. Self-help groups should be given the work of supply of bed sheets in government hostels. Women self-help groups should be given the work of running fair price shops.

Additional Chief Secretary Panchayat and Rural Development R.S. Julaniya, Chief Executive Officer of State Livelihood Mission L.M Belwal and a large number of members from women self-help groups from all over the state were present during the programme.-WTN