Dalit Sthree Sakthi organized a conference on the eve of International Women’s Day on the theme “Dalit Women – Empowerment” on 10th March 2018 at SC Corporation Hall, Guntur. The meeting was presided by Jhansi Geddam, National Convener of Dalit Sthree Sakthi, while DICCI State leaders’ Sri Vijaya Kumar&Dr Anand and Sri Naveen Kumar from District Industries Department spoke on the occasion. The photos of Dr B R Ambedkar and Savithribai Phule were garlanded by the dignitaries on the dais. GDV Prakash, Programme Manager of DSSoutlined the objective and purpose of conducting International Women’s Day with the theme of empowering the dalit women by transforming them as entrepreneurs. Jhansi Geddam detailed about the gender concepts and equality by illustrating various examples and stressed the need of continuous gender campaign among all sectors of the society. Later, all the dignitaries on dais shared their views and explained how dalit women can transform themselves into entrepreneurs.
The opinions that emerged from the speakers are:
Gender sensitization is essential to achieve economic growth.
We need to view all the aspects in gender lens
The progress of the country is linked with the progress of the women. If all the women of the country are involved in productive process, it will positively impact the economic growth of the country as a whole.
If dalit women are economically empowered, it brings about transformation in the lives of the dalit families.
Economic power is basic to individual dignity and atrocities on dalit women can be eradicated if they are empowered economically.
The health of dalit women also improves if they are economically strong.
The governments are spending lot of budget on farmers but not on labourers.
Thousands of crores of rupees are spent on farmers in the form of lift irrigation, pattiseema, market yards etc but nothing is spent on the labourers.
Subsidies and all lands are only to the farmers, similarly all sectors enjoy subsidies, but there is false propaganda that subsides are given to scheduled castes only.
Women are efficient, tolerant and intelligent and they should create confidence in the bankers, access loans and grow economically strong.
It should be realized that the era of getting government jobs or other comfortable jobs is gone and one can grow only through business, industrial production etc.
Caste annihilation is also possible only through economic empowerment.
Dalits should study the programmes like Start Up India, Stand Up India and utilize them for economic empowerment.
