Chhattisgarh govt to empower tribal women in the state with the help of silk

Friday February 23, 2018 , 2 min Read

Tribal women belonging to Chhattisgarh have often been victims of trafficking and other kinds of exploitation. In an attempt to change that and to provide them a stable source of livelihood, the Chhattisgarh government has decided to train them in the production of Tusar silk.

Though women constitute nearly 50 percent of the country's population, they are often oppressed and their rights are violated in India. Tribal women, in particular, are doubly oppressed because of their status as a woman and a tribal. According to India Today, tribal women in India have the lowest literacy rates.

In this context, to change the status quo and to make tribal women in the state self-reliant, the Chhattisgarh government has come up with an initiative to train them on production of Tusar silk and teach them the process involved in removal of threads from the silkworm. Women belonging to self-help groups in Jashpur district have been given 45 days training on this.

After the completion of the course, they are entrusted with the responsibility and this process has proven to be a good source of income to the tribal women, which in turn will empower them. Talking about the initiative to ANI, collector of the Jashpur district Priyanka Shukla said,

Jashpur is swiftly emerging as one of the leading districts in the state. This project is becoming a noble method for economic empowerment of women. We are developing a brand 'Jash Udyam' which will be offered on sale through online platforms

More than 1,200 women have benefited from the mission so far and the Chhattisgarh government plans to expand similar initiatives to other districts.