Ministry of Minority Affairs : Nai Roshni Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women

Organization : Ministry of Minority Affairs
Name of the Scheme : Nai Roshni Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women
Country: India

Official Website : https://minorityaffairs.gov.in/

Nai Roshni Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women:
The status of women in the country, particularly those from the disadvantaged sections of the society, is unfavourable. A girl child suffers from discrimination even before birth and also after birth in the allocation of household resources such as food, education, access to health care and at puberty, sometimes coerced into early marriage. Most women in the rural areas suffer from double burden of carrying out less quantifiable work like cooking, fetching water, sending children to school along with agriculture labour, feeding cattle, milking cows etc., while the men folk perform defined activities like selling milk and grains produced by the household. Women in the minority communities fare badly too. They are not just a minority, but the ‘marginalized majority’ and are sidelined in decision making in the family, and usually cut off from full involvement in the workings of the community and form an equal share in the rewards from social institutions.

Empowerment of women per se is not only essential for equity, but also constitutes a critical element in our fight for poverty reduction, economic growth and strengthening of civil society. Women and children are always the worst sufferers in a poverty stricken family and need support. Empowering women, especially mothers, is even more important as it is in homes that she nourishes, nurture and moulds the character of her offspring.

A report of the High Level Committee on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community of India (popularly known as the Sachar Report) had highlighted the fact that India’s largest minority group, the Muslim numbering 13.83 Crore, have been left out of the development trajectory and within this group Muslim women are doubly disadvantaged.

Keeping this in view, Ministry of Minority Affairs has reformulated the scheme in 2011-12 and renamed it as “Scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women”. The implementation of the Scheme started in 2012-13.

Based on experience in the first year of implementation, it was felt to bring in certain modifications to ensure its reach to the target groups and effective implementation at ground level, and therefore an appraisal was made by the Standing Finance Committee in on 6th March 2013. As per their recommendations, the scheme has been revised as follows for continuation during 12th Five Year Plan:

Target Group and Distribution of Targets:
Target Group includes women belonging to all minorities notified under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 viz. Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis). However, to further strengthen the mosaic of plurality in the society and bring about solidarity and unity through their own efforts to improve their lot, the scheme permits a mix of women from non-minority communities not exceeding 25% of a project proposal. Efforts should be made by the Organization for having a representative mix of women from SCs/STs/OBCs, women with disabilities and other communities under within this 25% group.

Efforts will be made to persuade Elected Women Representatives (EWRs), from any community, under the Panchayati Raj institutions to be included as a trainee.

Objective:
The objective of the scheme is to empower and instill confidence among minority women, including their neighbours from other communities living in the same village/locality, by providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with Government systems, banks and other institutions at all levels.

Empowerment of women from the minority communities and emboldening them to move out of the confines of their home and community and assume leadership roles and assert their rights, collectively or individually, in accessing services, facilities, skills, and opportunities besides claiming their due share of development benefits of the Government for improving their lives and living conditions.

Eligible Organizations :
Nurturing/hand holding service envisaged in the scheme being linked with advocacy is a field intensive activity. It requires continuous involvement and availability of facilitators at the doorsteps of the target group. The personnel of the Organization implementing the scheme would be required to visit the village/locality periodically for providing nurturing/handholding service to the group of women imparted leadership development training so that they are guided in the use of tools and techniques taught to them and are able to extract the benefit from their efforts. Such field intensive activities are best suited for highly motivated and dedicated community based organizations. Due to the very nature of women’s household activities requiring them to stay close to their home, it is important that the organization implementing this scheme have the experience, personnel and resources to carry out trainings in the village/locality where the women reside.

The organization should also have prior experience and resources to arrange residential training in recognized Government training institutes or their own facility. It is, therefore, necessary that organizations having the reach, motivation, dedication, manpower and resources to carry out such trainings in the villages/localities and also arrange residential training courses are eligible to participate in the implementation of the scheme. This does not preclude Central and State Government’s training institutes including universities and institutes of higher learning in participating in the implementation of this scheme.

Organizations which would be eligible for applying for financial assistance under this scheme are given below:
(i) Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
(ii) Public Trust registered under any law for the time being in force.
(iii) Private limited non-profit company registered under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act, 1956.
(iv) Universities/ Institutions of higher learning recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC).
(v) Training institutes of Central and State Government/UT Administration including Panchayati Raj Training institutes.
(vi) Duly registered Cooperative Societies of Women/ Self Help Groups.