** Forum Nasional Indonesia PPI India Mailing List ** ** Untuk bergabung dg Milis Nasional kunjungi: ** Situs Milis: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ ** ** Beasiswa dalam negeri dan luar negeri S1 S2 S3 dan post-doctoral scholarship, kunjungi http://informasi-beasiswa.blogspot.com **http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32418
INT'L WOMEN'S DAY: Solidarity Empowers SOMA BASU MADURAI, India , Mar 8 (IPS) - A few months ago, Kathammala, 23, barged on to the stage set up for a function attended by the chief minister of southern Tamil Nadu state, Jayaraman Jayalalithaa. Policemen and commandos failed to stop the young woman from breaking through a tight security cordon to reach the dais, waving a petiton and shouting, ''Amma (mother) please help me.'' Brushing aside security, Jayalalithaa reached out to the young woman, who turned out to be a member of the a women's Self Help Groups (SHGs)-- a pet project of the chief minister. Indeed, the function was intended to be a stock-taking exercise for SHGs. Kathammala's petition said she needed a job because helping her handicapped husband sell vegetables in the street did not bring in enough money to repay loan instalments for an SHG loan she had taken. Within a week, Kathammala was appointed as a day meal organiser at a nursery school in her village, on a regular salary. That intervention was another opportunity for Jayalalithaa, who is often accused of imperious behavior, to cement her image as a leader who works in solidarity when it comes to women and their issues. This year, with provincial elections due in Tamil Nadu in May, the extra effort at image-building could pay off in the shape of extra votes from women -- as also the rural poor, dalits (so-called untouchables) and other underprivileged groups in this state of 65 million people. In a country with myriad divisions in society and known for its 'vote bank' politics, Jayalalithaa is one politician who has grasped the idea that the biggest single constituency of the underprivileged is that of women. Apart from her personal example as an eminently successful woman in the male-dominated world of Indian politics, Jayalalithaa's regional AIADMK party enjoys a formidable reputation as a pro-women party. The thrust given by the AIADMK to women's education and research on women related issues, self-employment schemes for women are hard to match. It tells in Tamil Nadu's female literacy which rose from 51.33 per cent in 1991 to 64.55 per cent in 2001, when the last census was conducted. And much of the credit would go to Jayalithaa who served an earlier term as chief minister from 1991-1996. Jayalalithaa knows only too well that changing the structures that consign India's rural poor -- especially poor women -- to lifelong disadvantage is tough and demands a quantum shift in public attitudes. In comparison, another woman chief minister, Vasundhara Raje Scindia in western Rajasthan, has preferred to stick with feudal structures so that the plight of women is said to have worsened in her state since she came to power in December 2003. Jayalalithaa's strategy has been to change the lives of women through the SHGs. And it does not hurt that her efforts at awareness-building and advocacy using them have made her more visible to the electorate. All it took was to let it be known that she expected the administration, including the police force, to facilitate the functioning of the SHGs. For example, when an SHG in Salem district came up with a packaged nutrition supplement that was cheaper than branded products, the state quietly swung in with marketing support. SHG products, covering a broad range of items such as tumblers, processed foods and apparel, boasting eco-friendliness and biodegradability, have found a place on government websites Tamil Nadu's police force not only supports the SHGs but also has a large number of 'all women' police stations across the country, set up as part of Jayalalithaa's pro-active strategies to empower women in the state. A chain of authority, dotted by women in responsible positions, and headed by Jayalalithaa herself seems to have helped the SHGs, for example, to gain access to bank loans. Additional support comes from the dedicated Tamil Nadu Corporation for the Development of Women. The state has about 3.5 million women enrolled in some 200,000 SHGs in rural and urban areas with a total budget of more than 1.5 billion dollars. And the bulk of the SHGs have access to institutional credit. More than anything else, Jayalalithaa's leadership has forged a sense of solidarity among women, that cuts across class barriers. ''We may not be able to cite a single major issue on which women's organisations have been able to advance significantly from last year. Yet, ideas of solidarity circulate widely. Bread-and butter issues like the inefficient public distribution system and the functioning of self-employment schemes for women now dominate thought processes,'' says Adilakshmi Gurumurthy, a Madurai-based gynaecologist. ''We cannot fix all the world's problems but, collectively, we can all work together to offer hope and healing,'' she said. (END/2006) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ** Forum Nasional Indonesia PPI India Mailing List ** ** Untuk bergabung dg Milis Nasional kunjungi: ** Situs Milis: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ ** ** Beasiswa dalam negeri dan luar negeri S1 S2 S3 dan post-doctoral scholarship, kunjungi http://informasi-beasiswa.blogspot.com **
