One small step for Deepalaya, a big leap for women empowerment
The time has come when we need to rise up to the occasion and create awareness about the importance of educating women. Fortunately, institutions like Deepalaya play a major role in filling this gap.
It’s an unfortunate truth that women, especially in rural India, are a neglected lot in our country. They face Women entrepreneurs in Gusbethi, Haryana who are a part of Deepalaya's Self-Help Group.discrimination from before birth, are usually confined within the four walls of their homes, are denied the basic right to education and if, by luck, are allowed to attend school, they end up dropping out early for some reason or the other.
The time has come when we need to rise up to the occasion and create awareness about the importance of educating women. Fortunately, institutions like Deepalaya play a major role in filling this gap.
Deepalaya is an NGO that strongly believes that women should have equal socio-economic, cultural and political opportunities as men. To live up to its commitment, the organisation practices positive discrimination of the girl child, which means that it actively seeks out and encourages girl children to enroll in schools. More over, the NGO also partnered with the Mewar Dev Agency in 1999 to start a Self Help Groups in more than 400 villages. In 2012, these women saved Rs 14.56 million and their total savings increased to Rs 46.84 million. From the savings alone they have given out loans worth Rs 927 lakh.
Taking the torch of enlightenment forward, Deepalaya recently provided an education loan to Hema Mehta, a girl student, for pursuing a degree in B.Sc. Agriculture. The gratification was immense when the beneficiary wrote a letter expressing her gratitude and how the loan transformed her life.
A complete transcript of the letter is given below –
Deepalaya empowers a girl child by giving her a loan with which she can complete her higher education.“Sir I am very grateful to Deepalaya for providing me education loan for my under-graduate program of 4 years. This N.G.O. provided me a loan at the time of scarcity. I am trying to make best use of this loan and I always try to do my best in my academic part.
Now I am in B.Sc.Ag (3year) and I got the G.P.A. of 8.241 in 2ndyear and I got 2nd position in my batch. I was also shortlisted for merit scholarship provided by our GBPUAT, Pantnagar for getting 2nd position.
I take part in many co-curricular activities. I participated in university kho-kho competition and my team was runner up. I am the team member of university kho-kho team.
I got a certificate for taking part in “all India essay competition” organized by Shri Ram Krishna Mission.”
About the Author
Ravi Pahuja
Noida
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