Women Empowerment Story: Present’s Highway to Future’s Glory

The moment we initiate a conversation about “Empowering Women”, suggestions and concerns start flowing in from every direction but understanding the concept behind the cause is equally important. To the world India is one of the “Emerging Superpowers” on the other hand some malign perceptions about women are still being practiced in various parts of the country. Empowering a woman is not just about employing her it’s about elevating her in every aspect of life. We, the people of India need to understand that why are we lagging behind the half of the world when it comes to liberation of women? Indira Gandhi once quoted “Let’s not forget that in India symbol of strength is a woman: The Goddess Shakti”. Empowerment and participation are a woman’s fundamental right enabling them to have control over their lives and put forth influence in society. Out of total population of country which is about 1.2 billion 48% are female. Most of these 48% are uneducated, which forces them to face discrimination and exclusion, resulting in persistence of the “male dominant society”. There is a need to address the issue by raising the status of women and the key lies in making women self-dependent, highly aware of social issues, and self-reliant. Here is where Skill Development comes into play. Skill and Knowledge are the souls of a nation’s growth and development. Indian government is emphasizing a lot on Skill Education from past few years and launched multiple schemes for women in various sectors.

Need of Skill Education

The question that sometimes arises “How Skill Training can bring about uplifting of women?” Well the answer is not much complex as people think it is, empowering means increasing an individual’s or group’s capacity to make choices, take decisions on the basis of their choices and performing actions based on decisions. When we talk about skilling a woman we talk about making her economically self-dependent, making her confident, enabling her to earn her own livelihood. A skilled woman has a sense of self-worth, a belief in her ability to achieve desired goals and ability to control her own life. A woman of such conscience can change the fate of an entire generation. Skill training has played a crucial role in transforming the lives of thousands of women across the country and continues to be a game changer in the empowerment of women.

Current Affairs

According to census 2011, the work participation rate for women was 25.51 percent as compared to 25.63 percent in 2001. The work participation rate of women had marginally changed in 2011. But there was slight improvement from 22.27 percent in 1991 and 19.67 percent in 1981. The work participation rate in rural areas is 30.02 percent as compared to 15.44 percent in urban areas. In India women have limited or no access to education or skill training due to some cultural boundations, and these practices are mostly common in rural areas. According to NSDC(National Skill Development Corporation) 22 million skilled work force is required by the end of 2022 on the other hand MSDE(Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) has transformed lives of over 35.56 Lakh women through skill training; empowering them for better and secured livelihood through Skill India Mission.

Looking at the figures it can be clearly concluded that increase in woman participation brings about growth in GDP and growth of Nation as well.

From Life to Full of Life

From being a lady engaged in laundry, cooking and baby-sitting to becoming a self-dependent woman is a journey filled with turmoil, hard work and courage. As quoted by Barry Neil Kaufman “The way we choose to see the world creates the world we see.” Skill training has played crucial role in transforming the lives of thousands of women across the country, it not only helped women to believe in themselves but also gave them confidence to rise and shine.

Now the question arises how skill education helped in transforming life of thousand?

Skill Education as we see is the process of developing skills in an individual or a group, making them capable and confident in making decisions. For Instance, we say that a woman enrolled for a Self Employed Tailor program in an NGO. There are several benefits of the course that are making it easy for her to focus on her capabilities more than she ever did. Free of cost learning, Short duration of course and counseling session helps an individual to analyze their potential.

Skill Education not only focuses on academic and rote learning but also helps people to grow as individuals and work on their intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. Ability to nurture healthy relationships, solve problem and make decision is something every individual needs and that’s what the basis of skill education.