The Consultative Committee of WCD Ministry holds meeting on âSkill Training for Womenâ Need to identify and encourage good and genuine NGOs working in the field of women empowerment for support
The Meeting of Consultative Committee of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Women and Child Development was held under the chairpersonship of the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in New Delhi today. The issue before the committee was âSkill Training for Womenâ. Various aspects related to skill development, employment generation and empowerment of women were discussed during the meeting.
Addressing the Members of the Committee, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that skill development plays an important role in enhancing economic opportunities for women, leading to their empowerment.
The Minister asked the Members of Parliament to identify, and suggest names of genuine NGOs doing good work on the ground and Government should assist them in their task of skill development of women. âWe will try our best to ensure Indiaâs money goes to the bestâ, she added.
She also said that the training should not only be restricted to the few areas like sewing, stitching and embroidery but should also include various diverse activities like making food items, rope making and knitting which are in demand and can generate easy economic opportunities for women.
The Minister said that the NGOs and other organisations applying for these schemes should be checked for duplication since sometimes various Ministries end up funding NGOs for the similar purpose. She said that the STEP Scheme will be restarted later this year and the proposals of projects will be uploaded on internet and if the proposals are rejected, the reasons thereof will also be shown.
During the meeting, the MPs also raised their concerns regarding the lack of awareness among the rural women regarding their rights, legal aspects, marketing, and selling of products etc. Responding to these issues , the Minister said that the awareness can be spread among women through specific content driven programmes on the radio.The content can be translated into various languages as per requirement, she added.
Introducing the skill development programmes of the Ministry; Secretary, Sh Vinay Sheel Oberoi said that the Ministry has two major schemes in this area ie Support to Training and Employment Programme (STEP) and Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK).
Explaining the schemes to the members, Shri I. S. Chahal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development said that STEP guidelines were revised in December, 2014 to make the scheme for effective. Till date, 341 projects have been sanctioned under the scheme. The total funds released are Rs. 354.47 crores and a total of 9,19,019 beneficiaries have benefited from the programme since its inception..
Training in various sectors like handicrafts, hospitality, agriculture etc is provided under the Scheme. Earlier, the proposals needed to be routed through the states but under revised guidelines, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has started the process of receiving the proposals directly. In 2014-15, there were 30953 beneficiaries under the scheme in various activities including computer education, beauticulture, tailoring and selling items.
Under RMK, 7.35 lakh women have been empowered through 1510 NGOs, with 66000 beneficiaries trained over last 5 years. Under this scheme, women are trained for employability. NGOs are trained by NIPCCD for further training self âhelp groups and beneficiaries .
Secretary, WCD Shri Vinay Sheel Oberoi and other senior officials of the Ministry were also present during the meeting.
NB/NK/PB
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