Women in quake-hit villages set new empowerment goals

It was a classic example of a tragedy being converted into an opportunity.

Women in Maharashtra’s Latur and Osmanabad districts, which were hit by an earthquake 25 years ago, refused to be defeated by the catastrophe and took it up as a challenge to restore their houses and in-turn became entrepreneurs.

A ravaging earthquake had hit Latur and Osmanabad on September 30, 1993, killing nearly 10,000 people and causing severe damage in nearly 52 villages of the two districts.

Scores of houses and other properties were reduced to rubble in some villages, rendering a large number of people homeless.

Over the years, nearly one lakh women set up self-help groups (SHGs) and trained in entrepreneurship, marketing and finance of agricultural and non-agricultural small scale businesses.

Besides, around 41,000 women were trained by the NGO Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) to take up organic farming on their family's lands.

“The women farmers have earned a revenue of Rs 516 crore over the last few years as the cost of production of food crops is less than cash crops like sugarcane,” SSP head Prema Gopalan told PTI.

After one year of the earthquake, a Government Resolution was issued for appointing ‘Sanvad Sahayaks’, or the community resource person, to help in the reconstruction of the damaged houses, Gopalan said.

The SSP trained the women to be sanvad sahayaks and to monitor the reconstruction and repairs of houses and interact with engineers and contractors on designs of these houses.

Involving women in these works was not an easy task as they wouldn’t come out of their kitchens and the damaged homes when the SSP volunteers went around the villages.

Over the years, nearly one lakh women set up self-help groups and trained in entrepreneurship, marketing and finance of agricultural and non-agricultural small scale businesses