The Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India concludes its Iconic Week under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav from 7th – 13th March 2022 during the week of International Women’s Day. The Iconic Week’s theme to celebrate the contribution of rural women in India was ‘Naye Bharat ki Naari’.

A series of 18 women-centric celebratory events and activities were conducted at National and State level across various programmes of MoRD including Deen Dayal Upadhyaya – Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI), Deen Dayal Antyodaya – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and RURBAN.

अवसर की आज़ादी | 7^th March 2022 (Monday)

More than 174 ‘women centric’ mobilisation camps were organised under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) across the country on 7th March 2022. More than 4281 women candidates were successfully mobilised through various such camps organized across the country for enrolling in courses like Assistant Beauty Therapist, Self Employed Tailoring and Sample Tailoring etc. The DDU-GKY scheme mandates one-third of the total candidates being trained under the scheme to be women. Also, even though the scheme targets rural poor youth in the age group of 15-35 years, the upper age limit for women candidates is 45 years.

New batches of women-centric courses were started by RSETIs (Rural Self Employment Training Institutes) across the country on 7th March 2022. New batches were started in trades like Homemade Agarbatti Maker, Soft Toys Maker and Seller, Papad, Pickle and Masala Powder, Beauty Parlour Management & costume Jewelry Udyami etc. Under the RSETI scheme, 10 training courses out of the total 64 are exclusively for women candidates.Women form 66 per cent of the total trained candidates under the RSETI programme. Till date, about 26.28 lakh women candidates have been trained since inception and about 18.7 lakh have been successfully settled.

नए भारत की नारी National Award Ceremony | 8th March 2022 (Tuesday)

DAY-NRLM celebrated International Women’s Day by saluting the entrepreneurial spirit of “Naye Bharat ki Naari” at Vigyan Bhawan on 8^th March 2022. The program was graced by Union Minister for Rural Development Shri Giriraj Singh, Minister of State for Rural Development, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Minister of State for Rural Development, Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste and Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development.

In the event, Lakhapati women (rural SHG women who now earn more than rupees 1 lakh annually), women members managing Gender Justice Centre, DDU-GKY alumni and RSETI alumni shared their stories of transformation. Best performing Cluster Level Federations and best performing Public Sector Banks were awarded at the event. The PIA who has trained / placed maximum women candidates under DDU-GKY were also felicitated. The award winners were selected from across the nation and joined the event in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Giriraj Singh said Rural women with its entrepreneurial spirit is emerging as Naye Bharat Ki Naari. Shri Singh added that the positivity reflected by participants today was remarkable and these are the women who are going to make a huge contribution in PM Modi’s mission of 5 trillion economy. He said that he is confident that the women were on a rapid path of progress would soon earn more than 1 lakh monthly and not just more than Rs 1 lakh annually.

आगे बढ़ने की आज़ादी | 9^th March 2022 (Wednesday)

The Department of Rural Development through its various initiatives under Deendayal Antyodaya – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and RURBAN rejoiced the unparalleled initiatives and achievements of Naye Bharat ki Naari across States/UTs, by felicitating them at various levels on 9^th March 2022 under the theme Aage Badhne ki Azadi.

Various States/UTs sanctioned ‘Pucca Awaas’ to 75 rural women beneficiaries ofPMAY-G who are either owners or co-owners.

कुपोषण से आज़ादी | 10^th March 2022 (Thursday)

With an aim to create awareness on under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth babies amongst rural women, more than 5000 trainees from both Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) and Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) organised more than 100 rallies across the country. Various stakeholders viz State Rural Livelihood Missions, RSETIs, Project Implementation Agencies (PIAs), programme beneficiaries etc., rallied to reinforce the importance of nutrition amongst rural women. Women candidates marched and cycled across villages holding informative placards and posters as part of the rallies.

Also on-ground campaign of plantation and agri-nutri garden drives under Deendayal Antyodaya – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) were conducted at District/Block/GP level.

गर्व से जीने की आज़ादी | 11^th March 2022 (Friday)

Over 3000 State Mission staff and Self-Help Group (SHG)members logged in from 34 states to attend the third ‘Gender Samwaad’ organised by the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministryof Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India on the 11^thMarch 2022. It is a national virtual initiative under the DAY-NRLM to generate greater awareness on the mission’s interventions across the country with a gender lens. The theme for this edition was ‘Promotion of food and nutrition security through women’s collectives’. Addressing the online gathering, Sh. Nagendra Nath Sinha, Secretary, MoRD highlighted the potential of women collectives to support behaviour change and access to services. “SHG women across the country played an important role in raising awareness on COVID-19 amongst over 5.5 crore rural households,” he said.

Each State/UT organized the Grih Pravesh of 75 women beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G). Felicitation of 75 women who have been provided with livelihood opportunities under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and have made success was also conducted across State/UTs.

सफाई से रहने की आज़ादी | 12^th March 2022 (Saturday)

Department of Rural Development’s constant endeavour is to offer Naye Bharat ki Naari a clean surrounding. Under 'सफाई से रहने की आज़ादी' various cleanliness drives were conducted by Rural Self Help Group women under Deendayal Antyodaya – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) & women Mahatma Gandhi NREGA members while 750 women beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G) were given monetary assistance to build toilets through convergence under SBM-G.

सामाजिक बंधनो से आज़ादी | 13^th March 2022 (Sunday)

Webinars/events at State level were organized on experience sharing and felicitating SHG women working on social inclusion, social development and gender related issues under Deendayal Antyodaya – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). Also women trained under each Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI) and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya – Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) were awarded of course completion certificates.

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