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FUNDING FOR NUTRITION FACILITY FOR WOMEN
PURKAL STREE SHAKTI SAMITI
Brief About the Organisation
This activity helps provide economic stability and assists their income-starved families. All proceeds from sales go back to the women. The status of women has grown significantly through the Society and now these women participate in panchayat, reject early marriages, care for proper nutrition and their living standards have grown. Despite the progress these women are victims of extreme poverty. In such rural societies women are culturally predisposed to making sacrifices for the sake of their families. Many women have admitted that the meals provided at work is often the only meal that they get as the often forgo food in order to sufficiently feed their loved ones at home.
Impact of the Project
Apart from the benefits that have accrued to the self-help groups and to the individual women in terms of income, we might list the following as gains that have been realized by the population of women in this area as a whole.
- Regular incomes in the hands of the women have certainly raised the aspiration levels of many families. Women have now a better say on the nutritional inputs and the education of the young children. Clearly income is now being directed to these purposes.
- Hygiene and sanitation are issues that are being addressed. The scheme of providing and building toilets in individual houses that the Society implemented, brought with it not merely dignity to the women and the girl child but also Hygiene and sanitation.
- These girls are now rejecting early marriages. They will also now insist on a say in the selection of their life partners. As a consequence, the social indicators relating to fertility and health will automatically improve.
- It is now possible for women to take more effective part in governance of Panchayats (our local governments). They are now better equipped to implement democracy through the Right to Information Act. They should also be able to implement some ideas on Social audit of government expenditures. The Society will take proactive steps to achieve these desirable goal
Welfare Activities:
- We provide a well-lit and airy and spacious work place to work from.
- All the machines are constantly upgraded for the women’s comfort. Access to all the equipment is free
- For those women who have small children below 6 years, we run.an early childhood learning centre where the children are taught, fed, and taken care of, so that the mothers can work with not worry about their children. This facility is run by Purkal Youth Development Society, our sister Society.
- Every day, the women are given tea along with lunch.
- All women are bused to the centre and back every day for free. At the Jharipani centre women who live far away are paid bus fare.
- We train them for 6 months, the training is not only free but we also give them a stipend for this period as they are not able to earn much when they are learning.
- The women who work through their self-help groups have their savings bank account where they deposit their monthly savings which is used for inter-se lending. This effort has since grown into a powerful resource for the women.
- During some years medical check-ups were done by eminent doctors of Dehradun. Very selectively some of the problems of some women were attended to either for a concessional fee or at no cost. This is not however a regular facility available to the women.
- Free eye tests, spectacles are offered to the women. Oral care has also been extended to the women over the years.
Providing nutrition to all women working for the whole day in our campus
After many years of our persistent effort, we succeeded in commencing a programme for the provision of free lunch to some of our women. A donation became available to construct a kitchen and equip it. Having completed this first step we needed to find money for sustaining the project from month to month.
We need about Rs. 35 per day per woman to make available a good meal with eat as much as you can rice, a cooked vegetable of the season, Dhal and salad. While for the initial 4 month we could raise money for its complete cost, we do not have the entire resources and the cost is being met by the Society. This is draining us.
It is necessary to find a lunch for all women working with us free of cost so that they have the advantage of not only a full meal but also a well-balanced diet, rich in micro minerals, proteins and starch at least once every day. It is also possible that some of the women who work only in the forenoon will work a little longer and earn better if they get a regular daily meal.
We are therefore proposing that we will begin our nutrition programme with a number of about 65 every day. After this proves successful we should widen it to cover more women.
Estimated Budget | Budget for Nutrition Programme | |
| Particulars | Amount |
| Cost per Meal Per Day | 35 |
| Number of Working days in a month | 25 |
| Number of Women | 65 |
| Cost for Nutrition per month | 56,875 |
| Number of months in a year | 12 |
| Annual cost for Nutrition Programme | 682,500 |
| Rounded off to | 682,000 |
The cost of this programme for a year would be Rs. 6, 82,000/-
We request you to kindly consider contributing to sponsor the nutrition programme with a cumulative donation of Rs. 6, 82,000/-.
