The Women of Aipoor: A village in Suryapet becomes model for women empowerment

Aipoor, a small village in Suryapet district, will from now on be known as a national model for women empowerment

Suryapet: Aipoor, a small village in Suryapet district, will from now on be known as a national model for women empowerment.

The village, which bagged the national level award for the Best Women Friendly Village as part of the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar from the Government of India, stands not just for women’s empowerment practices that can be emulated by others, but also in matters of women’s safety.

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Aipoor, situated in Athmakur (S) mandal, is about 25 kilometres from the district headquarters of Suryapet and has a population of 6,487.

Women constitute 49.4 percent of this, numbering 3199. And it is no surprise that women dominate the administration of the village, with seven out of the 12 ward members being women. The sarpanch, vice-sarpanch and the MPTC member too were women.

It cannot be mere coincidence that the government school in the village has a headmistress, or that the Grama Panchayat secretary too is a woman, Inspired by the awareness among women of the village, Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy had adopted Aipoor and ensured that the tiny village got more funds.

The Grama Panchayat has developed special facilities, including a Bathukamma Ghat and a park in the village for women and girls. It is also training women and girls in martial arts by hiring a karate master to teach them self-defense techniques.

The village has 93 Self Help Groups, which have 958 women as members, with these groups being instrumental in achieving women’s financial self-sufficiency in the village.

With Rs.3 crore, women of one SHG set up a mini dairy unit and three milk centres in the village and are now earning profits.

The SHG women are also running an ash brick manufacturing unit, an oil mill, a textile shop and a provisions store as well in the village.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Aipoor Sarpanch Sanaboina Rajitha said they had focused on developing gender friendly infrastructure and on providing training to women on self-employment opportunities and self-defense techniques, also aiming at instilling confidence in them. Not surprisingly, the women of Aipoor earn equal or more than their male counterparts.

Stating that the grama panchayat would receive a financial assistance of Rs.50 lakh after being selected as the best women-friendly local body, Rajitha said a library would be established in the village exclusively for women and girl students. She attributed the award to the unity of the women in the village.

Stating that financial self-sufficiency was crucial in achieving women empowerment, she said they had worked hard for better implementation of all State and Central schemes to derive maximum benefits.