Indian women have been subjected to many great changes over the past few centuries. The status of women and their position in the society is a key index of civilization. Yet, we, as a society often forget that we cannot prosper unless and until we educate and empower our women.

The problem looks dire when we look at the statistics, which tell us that the female Workforce Participation Rate (WPR) in India stands at 31.8%, and is about half of the male WPR at 73.2%, this is worth caring because economies cannot reach their full potential if roughly half of the population is systematically blocked from full participation. Underutilization of human resource may lead to severe losses, which is why, we, as a nation, should be working double time to solve this problem.

Majority of women in our country starts facing discrimination from the very young age. There are relatively lesser girls than boys in secondary schools. Girls are expected to follow traditional norms and rules of patriarchal society. In the rural areas and underdeveloped areas, women are expected to do household work and discouraged from leaving home which makes it impossible for them to stand on their feet, make their own identity and contribute to their family income. In the absence of any income of their own, they are dependent on men for just about everything. If the men are unemployed as well, their situation gets even worse. Women empowerment through self-dependency and financial freedom can only be achieved by providing them with vocational training, enabling them with the capacity to either start up something of their own or take up some jobs.

If we are to ever witness our world transformed by empowered, educated and able women, then we have to create the supportive environment for them. Also, we need to end violence against them, whose only crime is wanting an education and a shot at life — not just the violence of conflict but also the violence of forced child marriage, child labor, targeted attacks, assault and whatnot.

At Nidhi Foundation we work towards the betterment of such girls, women and society as a whole. At our community center in the Kalyanpuri region, we run the Vocational Skill Training program of 6 Months with the aim to develop the skills in girls and women so that they don’t have to depend on the male earning member of the family for their basic needs. Our team of volunteers has established the Sewing Center in the community where we teach the girls and women of the area all about the cutting and tailoring. We are also focused on developing entrepreneurial skills among these girls and women so that they could have a socially and economically secured future. Through various activities we inculcate entrepreneurial skills in them. We work on their communication skills, teach them business ethics and instigate them to think creatively and push them to find constructive solutions of the day to day problems.