GAIL Mumbai supports Woman Empowerment

“I dare - and I dare to dream” is the underlying mission which drives the spirit of the dedicated volunteers of Stree Mukti Sanghatana who hail from various strata of the society and different age groups (from 16 to 70 years) to work selflessly towards one single goal – empowerment to the unprivileged woman. The main objective of Stree Mukti Sanghatana (SMS) is to work towards creating conditions conducive to equality. Its programmes and activities enable women to become literate, self-reliant and confident.

Ms. Jyoti Mhapsekar, President - SMS had the honour of receiving the “Bai Phule Award” by the Maharashtra State Government. Mr. Proshanto Banerjee, CMD, GAIL (India) Limited felicitated Ms. Jyoti during a small programme arranged by SMS in Mumbai on 12th March 2006. The programme was attended by various volunteer doctors of SMS and various senior executives of GAIL Mumbai. Mr. Banerjee appreciated the efforts taken by the volunteers of SMS and rightly observed that SMS has developed itself from it being a Stree Mukti Sanghatana to a Samaj Mukti Sanghatana. He brought out the importance given by GAIL for various CRS activities and assured about GAILs support to such socially benefiting activities in the future.

GAIL being a socially aware company has made a contribution towards woman empowerment by giving a generous donation of Rs. 10.95 lakhs towards two activities of SMS i.e. “Jidnyasa” and Family Counseling Centre. “Jidnyasa” (Quest) is an Adolescent Sensitization Program of 18 hours for 9th Standard students (both girls and boys) of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and also in 8 districts in Maharashtra every year since 1996. It has already spread in various districts of Maharashtra and covered 1,00,000 students so far. It is a very relevant programme in recent times as today’s Society is in a flux where there is a conflict between the traditional and the modern. Majority of the citizens are ignorant of the scientific viewpoint because of various superstitions and hesitation to communicate because of the topic being taboo. Besides that, SMS has 10 Family Counseling Centers for distressed women in 7 districts of Maharashtra. These centers are established to mitigate and prevent domestic violence, societal violence and state violence. Such socially aware activities supported by GAIL will go a long way to help these women live a better life.