The Women and Child Development department, under the umbrella of the district panchayat, is set to conduct ‘Penadayalangal,’ a status study of women to understand women’s status, problems and requirements at the local self-government level and make the local bodies gender-friendly.
The study, which will examine women’s social, financial, emotional, physical, and health status, will help formulate novel projects in the district tailored to benefit them.
The study will be conducted among women in the 18-60 age group. Samples will be collected from 73 grama panchayats, four municipalities, and the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
Trained data enumerators have been deployed for conducting the study. They will conduct the field-level study through an online web application, collate the data at the district level, and prepare a report that will help in drawing up development activities in the coming years.
Minister for Food and Civil Supplies G.R. Anil will inaugurate the project on Monday at a function presided over by district panchayat president D. Sureshkumar. District Collector Geromic George will be the chief guest. Training for officials leading the project will be held on the same day.
District Women and Child Development Officer Sabeena Beegam S. said only a few projects such as appointment of school counsellors, formation of ‘jagratha samithis’ (vigilant committees) and gender awareness programmes had been held in the district in the area of women development.
The study was an attempt to implement a novel programme. Based on the study, programmes to address specific problems of women would be prepared. These would include creating awareness before something untoward happened, and strengthening redressal mechanisms in the form of jagratha samthis in the event something happens. Training for women who were unemployed and supporting them with equipment and other infrastructure needed to earn their livelihood and setting up of gender help desks were some of the other programmes envisaged. Formation of women’s cultural groups, arts and cultural competitions, get-togethers were also in the pipeline, she added.
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