While Sattapurna will undertake capacity building training for women members on various elected bodies, Srushtipurna will focus on environment- and employment-related projects. The two schemes were launched on Saturday, when the NGO celebrated its tenth anniversary.
According to executive trustee Medha Samant, the NGO, under its flagship projects, Arthapurna and Udyampurna, had helped over 3,000 women and 500 men from slums so far.
While loans worth Rs 2.5 crore have been disbursed to women under the first scheme, Rs 25 lakh have been disbursed to men under the second scheme, she said. The highlight of these schemes was the 100 per cent recovery rate.
Tantrapurna, a project that offered vocational training to youth, has received encouraging response, and the organisation was successful in getting jobs for over 150 trained candidates with the help of a placement service called Sandhipurna, which was started by Annapurna, Samant said.
Another scheme, Swasthyapurna, a health fund, provided financial aid for medical expenses and organised regular check-ups and awareness programmes in all slums. The project extends to over 900 slum families and covers over 5,000 individuals, she said.
Samant pointed out that the NGO has also launched 'Shantipurna', to assist slumdwellers in procuring important documents like birth certificates and ration cards and in providing family and legal counselling. The scheme was currently operational in four slums, and covered 300 families.
To mark the 10th anniversary, Whay mi Savitri Boltey (Yes, I am Savitri speaking), a one-act play on the life of Savitribai Phule, was performed by Sushama Deshpande. (Writer-South Asia)
