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Uttarakhand Mahila Samekit Vikas Yojna
(An ambitious initiative of Government of Uttarakhand towards Women Empowerment)
INTRODUCTION
It is a well-known fact that women are the backbone of the hill economy. Due to the lack of adequate employment opportunities in the hills and also due to their desire for a better standard of living, the youth from Uttarakhand migrate to the plains for jobs. Consequently it is the hill women who take care of the entire household in the absence of the males. Women are responsible for weeding and irrigating the fields, taking care of the livestock, which includes fetching fodder from the forests, collecting fuel wood and getting drinking water for the household, cooking, looking after the children etc. Moreover fodder over steep hillside. To add to this is the lack of adequate dietary intake, which makes her susceptible to diseases like anemia and tuberculosis.
About 42 percent of rural women and 26 percent of urban women are engaged in marginal occupations in order to supplement the family income by collection of fish, firewood, Animal Husbandry, maintenance of kitchen gardens, tailoring weaving and teaching, but the quantification of the activity, in terms of work-hours contributed, or its income-generating equivalent was not attempted or recorded.
Gender discrimination on the traditional role of men and women, and gender violence continue to be pervasive problem, Socio-cultural values are more heavily biased against women.
Some facts, reflecting status of women in Uttarakhand are described below:-
S. No. |
Issues |
Status |
Source |
1 |
Drudgery 1- In-house Work 2- Fetching Fuel & Fodder 3- Drinking Water 4- Agriculture Works 5- Other Activities |
Average workload is 12-14 Hours/Day |
Sample survey in Nainital & Almora Districts, 2001 (College of Home Science GBPUAT) |
2 |
Available of Drinking Water (15 minutes of safe water supply) |
Coverage – 66.2% |
National Family Health Survey, 1998-99 |
4 |
Sanitation (with flush toilet) |
Coverage – 25.9% |
National Family Health Survey, 1998-99 |
5 (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) |
Health & Nutrition Anemic Women RTI among Women Safe Deliveries Maternal Nutrition (Women with Low Body Mass Index) |
45.6% 41.2% 51.2% 32.4% |
National Family Health Survey, 1998-99 Health Directorate, 2004 Health Directorate, 2004 World Summit for Children Indicators, Uttaranchal, 2004 |
5 |
Literacy among 15-49 yrs |
59.7% |
World Summit for Children Indicators, U.A., 2004 |
6 |
Access & Control over money |
46.8% |
National Family Health Survey, 1998-99 |
7 |
Involved in decision making about own Health |
54.5% |
National Family Health Survey, 1998-99 |
Keeping above facts in view, the Government of Uttarakhand has launched Uttarakhand Mahila Samekit Vikas Yojana (UMSVY) in 2003, for holistic empowerment of women, to enable them to participate in decision-making process for effective contribution towards social, economic and political development.