Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Economic empowerment will remove gender bias: CM

By Our Staff Reporter

A woman thanking the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, after receiving a grant under the baby protection scheme at a function in Salem on Wednesday. — Photo: P. Goutham

ATTUR AUG. 27. Active participation by women in the Self-Help Group movement, leading to their economic empowerment, is the key to removing gender bias, the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, said today.

Laying the foundation stone for development projects and distributing welfare measures here, she said women symbolised power. ``They have never been weak at any point of time. Power means `sakthi' and `sakthi' is woman. They are born to achieve. The Hindu Goddess of Mari and Paraskathi symbolise this," she said. ``When women are the embodiment of power, why should they depend on men?''

With the objective of women empowerment, she mooted the concept of SHG in 1992 to "instil confidence" in them. When the SHGs were started, no banking institution came forward to provide them loans. But the situation completely changed now. They could now boast of huge savings. A healthy situation emerged in which the banks were now after the SHGs, Ms. Jayalalithaa said.

Urging every woman in the State to join an SHG, she said the movement now had 1,36,832 groups in which 23,27,751 women were members. The total savings amount was Rs. 332 crores.

Salem district, which has 385 village panchayats, 34 town panchayats, three municipalities and the Corporation, could boast of having 5,292 SHGs. Of the total of 89,453 members, 26,940 were Dalits and tribals. A sum of Rs. 46.68 crores had also been forwarded as loans to these SHGs. Referring to the Cradle Baby Scheme, introduced in 1992, she said ``it has totally eradicated the obnoxious social practice of female infanticide in the district."

Seeking the cooperation of all to transform the present rainwater harvesting campaign into a ``people's movement,'' she said a few people repeatedly sought extension of the deadline.

"But there is no need for this," she said, explaining the requirement for erecting RWH structures within the stipulated time.

Referring to the `Ramanathapuram experience', in which the parched district harvested rainwater fully after desilting all its tanks, ponds and other water-harvesting structures, she said "Now the people of Ramanathapuram need not go to other places to eke out a living. Farming operations are in full swing with the rainwater saved."

Making a veiled reference to the July government employees' strike, the Chief Minister ended her speech with the story of a misguided son, who got alienated from his affectionate mother, falling prey to the evil designs of a wealthy and wicked man whose only wish was to annihilate the mother's family.

When the son longed for his mother's affection and wanted to rejoin her, the wicked man instigated him by saying that the issue had been referred to court.

She said the people themselves would infer who the son and the man were. They also knew that who the affectionate mother was.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Science & Tech | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Scrap Article 356 lock, stock and barrel: Jayalalithaa
• Mechanic killed in boiler burst
• Economic empowerment will remove gender bias: CM
• 2 more groups lobbying to start medical colleges
• Consumer forum disposes of 27 cases in a month
• 5 p.c. electricity tax levied on consumers
• HC admits habeas corpus plea for Gopal release
• Water supply disconnection for non-compliance only after Oct. 10
• Villagers surrendering for 'self-defence' killings
• Maudhany acquitted

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu