Women's Groups

The women in rural Rajasthan enjoy very little freedom. The purdhah system is still very pronounced here and a woman cannot leave her home without a veil covering her face. Very seldom do women, especially Rajput women, leave the house. When they do step outside, it is for something essential, such as fetching water.

A community which is very rigid in its outlook is especially so towards its women and girls. The very low literacy rate among women is evidence of this. Women in such communities often accept their position passively. They have neither the confidence nor the collective strength to challenge the social system.

The Barefoot College began the women's development program to facilitate collective and direct action for change. Women's issues included organizing for better wages, legal rights, as well as family planning and other health concerns were the focus of initial efforts.

Mahila Samiti or women's groups were formed to discuss and change attitudes. Initially, the rural men were extremely hostile towards these samiti. Gradually however, communities realized that the women were not revolting but were trying to improve the lives of their families.

The women's groups now have members trained to plan, manage, implement and supervisedrought proofing initiatives of the College. The women participate in residential camps of a duration of a week. They are trained to maintain records, muster rolls and registers. These rural women are mostly literate and semi-literate.

Today there are about 175 Mahila Samitis throughout India. Awareness camps are organized by the samiti to share information on women's rights, health, hygiene, legal issues, and political practices and policies, like the Pachayati Raj, government policies that affect them, and their role in the various projects run in the village.

The women's personal problems and possible solutions are also discussed in the meetings. Many times, the Mahila Samiti members have gone personally to sort out the problems of a women especially in the case of abuse by her husband or in-laws.

Since the College believes in an integrated development approach, the samiti women also get involved in other projects like communication, handpump maintenance, and sale of handcrafts. These income-generating projects help teach the women money management, sales and other business skills in the marketing of Barefoot College Crafts.

Barefoot creche workers runs creches or balvadi for children between two and five years old. In addition to supervising the children's activities while their mothers work,the creche workers monitor the children's health and growth. They educate the children and the mothers on the importance of basic cleaniness, health and nutrition.

Social Work and Research Centre
Tilonia, Rajasthan, India