W20 holds Jan Bhagidari event at Mahabalipuram

Women 20, the official engagement group of G20, held its Jan Bhagidari (Citizens' Connect) event on 14th May 2023 at the Isle of Water, Radisson Blu Temple Bay Resort, Mahabalipuram. The event was supported by the National Rural Livelihood Mission; Department of Rural Development, Tamil Nadu; and Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.

Ms. Bansuri Swaraj, Supreme Court Advocate, and W20 India Delegate graced the event with her presence and spoke about the Women 20 engagement group and its priorities. She reiterated the commitment of India towards women-led development and emphasised on policies and programs adopted by the Government of India focused on women's financial literacy, digital literacy, health care and sanitation and economic empowerment for empowering women at the grassroots level. The event also saw the participation of the grassroots women leaders from different states of India; Smt. Bhavya (Karnataka SRLM), Smt. Radha Laxmi (UP SRLM), Smt. Shobha Rani (Telangana SRLM), Tmt. Selvi (Tamil Nadu), Tmt. A. Rajam (Tamil Nadu), and Ms. Megha Harsha, Artist & Guinness World record holder. They shared their transformational and inspiring stories and how the empowerment of women led to the comprehensive advancement of the entire village community.

Smt. Bhavya shared that she had undergone training in agriculture and trained 500 women by promoting government programmes in agriculture and horticulture. She has been working as the 'Krishi Sakhi' - the link between the farmers and the government.

Smt. Radha Laxmi shared that she has worked as a BC Sakhi as a part of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission and worked towards spreading information about financial literacy and government schemes such as NREGA and SHGs.

Shobha Rani shared her difficult yet inspiring journey that left the international delegates awestruck. She has worked in 21 states across India from the grassroots level to the national level as the Community Resource Manager. Her journey showcased the importance of promoting education and grassroots leadership for empowering women.

Tmt. Selvi, a tribal woman, shared that she belongs to the Irula Tribal Women's Welfare Society, a matriarchal society, which focuses on imparting healthcare services. Through her SHG, she has trained 420 women and directly impacted 495 families. She shared that she received support from the government under the National Rural Livelihood Missions for sustainable marketing and branding during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tmt. A. Rajam, an entrepreneur, shared about her sanitary and home cleaning products called Livein. She received support and training from the MSME, which helped her establish her own industry that currently employs 24 workers. She shared that her organisation has adopted women-centric policies such as flexible working hours for women.

Ms Megha Harsha emphasised the transformational power of art in shattering gender stereotypes and the importance of empowering women through art. She shared about her conscious choice of depicting UN SDGs and climate goals through her world record-breaking art piece.

Ms. Virginia Littlejohn, Co-Hod USA delegation spoke about the Women Entrepreneur (WE) Act and the Women Entrepreneur Finance Initiative (WE-Fi). She stressed the importance of capacity building for SHGs so that they can work with the regional development banks. She also emphasised the importance of boosting green business and the care sector for women empowerment.

Dr. Sandhya Purecha, Chair W20 2023, and Chairperson Sangeet Natak Akademi, thanked and felicitated all the panellists for sharing their valuable insights and emphasised the importance of the outreach programs conducted by W20 in achieving its agenda of women empowerment.

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SS/AKS