Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Friday said that the government has conceptualised a programme to empower women through different economic activities.
While addressing a seminar on “Representation of Women of North East India in Multi – Disciplinary Discourse” at Don Bosco College in Tura, the Chief Minister informed that the government is ensuring that the women are made financially independent through the Self-Help Group (SHG) movement.
He told the gathering of a situation, where young women were at high risk due to childbirth without spacing of three years and some young women even giving birth to more than five children by the age of 23 years.
“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 women. We have also introduced intervention that empowers women financially through income-generating activities initiated through Self Help Group,” the CM added while stating that the economic empowerment of women is of paramount concern of the government.
Sangma further informed that Meghalaya is one of the few states in the country where 95 per cent of the women from rural areas are part of the Self Help Group movement and there are over 4 lakh women under the SHG movement in the state, which was around 35,000 thousand prior to 2018.
He said that there are different problems confronting women but the government is working with an approach to provide effective solutions to those problems. However, the government is working with a positive mindset to provide different opportunities to enable the economic empowerment of women.
“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.
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Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma, who was also present in the national seminar, spoke at length on the contribution of women in different fields. He also urged the women to continue to overcome challenges and stand tall in making their contribution to society.
The Education Minister further said that women have better convincing power and that their active participation is very important in different sectors for the development of the state.
Also Read | Meghalaya CM Sangma inspects several ongoing projects in Tura