Self-reliance is the need of the hour for women and it can be achieved through Mission Shakti- a campaign for the holistic empowerment of women through Self Help Groups (SHGs)- which was launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in the State in 2001 , said State Social Welfare Board (SSWB) Chairperson Nivedita Nayak while speaking at a women’s awarness camp held on the Kendriya Vidyalaya premises here on Friday.
She also distributed pattas to 100 beneficiaries under Forest Rights Act (FRA) in presence of Collector M Muthu Kumar, Malkangiri MLA Mukund Sodi, ZP president Padmini Muduli and other officials of the district administration on the occasion.
Pattas will give legal possession of land to these tribal people, the Collector said. SSWB Chairperson said with economic independence, the women too have become active in their village welfare works and their views on various matters are beginning to be heard by the family and the community at large.
Restricted to kitchens and rearing children since long, the women of the State are now coming together to form women self-help groups under an empowerment programme called Mission Shakti, she added.
Since the Chief Minister launched the programme on March 8, 2001 on the occasion of International Women’s Day, lakhs of these groups have come up in the State, signalling a quiet but firm change.
The women have become financially independent by involving themselves in various activities through self-help groups.