Women Empowerment, Capacity Building and Development

Objective | Development Model | Report | Impacts

Implementing "PARIVARTAN" From Jaunpur to Varanasi: Down the Memory Lane

How it all began

CSR had selected villages in two different districts of Uttar Pradesh: Etawah and Jaunpur. These districts are economically and socially backward. They are dominated by traditional agriculture as the main source of livelihood, except a few strips where cash crops are produced. What was envisaged as the action wing of CSR, "PARIVARTAN" grew into a full- fledged development section of CSR with two rural units active in Jaunpur, Etawah and four urban units in Kanpur, Mirzapur, Varanasi and Delhi with three-fold program of organising the unorganised, conscientising the organised and empowering the conscientised. Rural women, urban poor, kisans, unemployed youth, dalits and adivasis are our partners in the action programs. This action wing shall soon complete two very eventful decades in about two years from now.

Parivartan Jaunpur

As a follow - up to 'Rural Female headed households" study, our first parivartan unit started in Jaunpur district. The first phase of the study began in 1982 in four villages of Gahani, Madhaipur, Seura and Malsil with an aim to break the vicious circle of underdevelopment and poverty through community building, income generating activities and improving the status of women.

The second phase began in 1986 where the prominent activities were goat rearing, rope making, snack and cereal making, community center for rural women. Alongside this, drudgery-reducing mechanisms were introduced for women's collective efforts for income generation. During these phases, it was sponsored by International Labour Organisation(ILO)

Following the second phase, in fifteen villages, a rural women's empowerment program under the name "A Step Towards Self Reliance" was started for employment generation and supportive activities like healthcare, child care and crèche, saving and credit facilities, counselling etc., so as to provide a holistic thrust to the program. The employment generating activities included rope making, small animal rearing, snack and cereal making besides its emphasis on drudgery reducing technologies, like smokeless stoves, handpumps, bicycles etc. The target group for employment generating activities were women of women headed households and other poor women. The project period spanned four years beginning January 1993 and was supported by Dutch Development Corporation.

Parivartan Jaunpur started off in one block covering four villages and then spread to two blocks covering forty five villages. Out of these forty five villages, in thirty villages the non-formal primary education centres for personality and skill development of rural girls by the name of 'Parivartan Kishori Vikas Pariyojana' were run. This program underwent three phases beginning September 1990 where in the first phase it was supported by NORAD and then by Oxfam-America. This project came to an end in 1997

The project not only reached out to direct beneficiaries but covered the entire community indirectly.

Parivartan Etawah

The Etawah district is located in the central region of the state of Uttar Pradesh and is surrounded by Kanpur district in the east. Agra and Firozabad district in the North, Jalaun district in the South and Madhya Pradesh borders it on the west. The district is divided into four tehsils and fourteen community development blocks for administrative convenience.

The implementing unit or project campus is located at Etawah and the campus is in 3 Acres of land including three buildings, one fishpond and a large orchard. Besides the campus, one agricultural farm of 10 acres exists adjacent to the project campus. The project campus is 20 kms from the block office. It is well connected by metal road. All adopted villages are within the range of 12-16 kms.

It is in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh that in 1987 we started our second Parivartan project. It was a replication of the Jaunpur project on employment generation and also provided for drudgery reducing technologies. A total of three blocks covering twenty-four villages have been covered under this program.

As part of Parivartan, we also investigate a program of WID management and other functionaries. Three such programs at the grassroots level, supervisory level and heads of project level shall be undertaken. The empowerment approach seeks to pay attention to women's practical gender needs relating to health, education, childcare, basic needs and employment. 'A Step Towards Self - Reliance' recognises the triple roles of reproduction, production and community management played by women with equal sensitivity. The challenge to women's subordination is organised through a bottom-up women's organisation. The project is designed to meet their practical gender needs through conscientising and mobilisation.

At present goat rearing and piggery, pisciculture(fish rearing) in one village and rope(baan) making are the two major income generating programs of animal husbandry. This project which has now entered into the second phase is also supported by ICCO

Parivartan Kanpur and Mirzapur

Women and Work project began in February 1993 as a four-year development program consisting of income generating and other associated activities among women in these two districts to promote autonomy through empowerment.

Parivartan Delhi

Since 1986, CSR is actively organising women in Mehrauli and Kishangarh villages, on the fringes of urban Delhi. Its activities have branched out in a multi-dimensional manner through:

    1. Awareness and motivation building campaigns with regard to health care and family planning

    2. An income generating program

Such a step has been instrumental in the formation of the Kishangarh Mahila Sabha. Along with this, fifteen Parivartan Shiksha Kendras were opened to provide adult literacy and non-formal education.

The Parivartan Smokeless chullahs project trained 100 women from these and surrounding villages of Delhi. Other activities undertaken were opening up of units for stitching, typing, handbag production, soap making to meet the demands among the local women.

In continuance with the above objectives, Parivartan Delhi has opened counselling centers for women. Here cases of violence against women are dealt with by the CSR team.

Parivartan Varanasi

The formation of Parivartan Unit in Varanasi in 1982 was linked with the CSR research work among the unorganised urban poor of the city. It aimed at facilitating the forces of organising the unorganised working men and women of Varanasi.

We began by starting Parivartan Swasthya Kendra, our health centre for families of rickshaw drivers and other urban poor. It provided free consultations, essential medicines,guidance for family planning and welfare. During that phase 12000 persons were treated. 

Parivartan volunteers helped in the formation of rickshaw drivers collectives for improving their working conditions.With support from OXFAM-India another collective of women bidi-makers consisting of 170 members came into being to overcome the exploitative practices in the occupation.In 1983, Parivartan inaugurated a Centre to train unemployed and unskilled women for better income generating trades like tailoring and handicrafts. Over 20 women attended the tailoring classes. Training was also imparted for making wall -hangings and toys. The Parivartan Shilpa Kendra was located in Madhavpur-Sagra, a village at the periphery of Varanasi City. At this juncture, CSR provided consultative services to a local Varanasi based NGO called Mahila Sahbhagita Sansthan, actively involved in empowering Muslim women. 

Parivartan Varanasi volunteers undertook an active citizen's campaign to protect the Ganga River from pollution. Parivartan sponsored a number of meetings of women for sharing experiences and promoting collective action against harassment of women in various spheres of society. OXFAM-India and OXFAM-America supported Parivartan Varanasi in various phases (in those early stages).