SHILLONG, April 28: Reiterating that the overall empowerment of women has been given precedence by the NPP-led MDA government, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Friday said that various programmes have been initiated to uplift the women through different economic activities.
Addressing a national seminar on ‘Representation of Women of North East India in Multi – Disciplinary Discourse’ at Don Bosco College, Tura, the chief minister informed that through the self-help group (SHG) movement, the government is ensuring that the women are made financially independent.
He also said that while some young women were at high risk due to child birth without a spacing of three years, some young women even give birth to more than five children by the age of 23 years.
“So we had to come up with a solution which is long-lasting that ensures the health and well-being of a mother. The Safe Motherhood Programme addresses the concern of the women,” he said.
“We have also introduced intervention that empowers women financially through income-generating activities initiated through self-help groups,” Conrad continued, stating that economic empowerment of women is of paramount concern of the government.
He also informed that Meghalaya is one of the few states in the country, where 95 per cent of women from rural areas are part of the SHG movement.
He said that there are over four lakh women under the SHG movement in the state, which was around 35,000 thousand prior to 2018.
Assuring that the government is working with a positive mindset to provide different opportunities to enable economic empowerment of women, he said albeit there are different problems confronting women, the government is nevertheless working with an approach to provide effective solutions.
“Having a positive mindset does not mean that we overlook the problem. However, we come up with a perspective to address the concern and improve things. It is a challenge but we have to come up with an approach to ensure real change,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma, who was also part of the programme, spoke at length about the contributions of women in different fields.
He urged the women to continue to overcome challenges and stand tall in making their contribution to society.
It may be mentioned that the seminar was attended by scholars from different parts of the country.