From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Nov 29: “Empowerment of women and making them self-reliant and self-supporting is not an empty slogan but a real commitment of the ruling Congress party in Karnataka,’’ said Dr Sudhakar, Congress MLA from Chikkaballapur, while distributing Rs 5 crore interest-free loans to Women’s Self-Help Groups in his constituency.
Cheques of interest-free loans were disbursed to mark the 100th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with the help of the District Cooperative Bank to as many as 135 women’s SHGs.
Dr Sudhakar said the Congress government headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had implemented a series of programmes and initiatives to uplift the social, economic and health status of women.
“The Congress party’s commitment to women’s empowerment and giving due importance to women is evident from the fact that the State’s entire bureaucracy will now be in the capable hands of Ms Ratnaprabha, who will be taking over the State’s next Chief Secretary from December 1, and also the appointment of Ms Neelamani N Raju as the State’s Director General and Inspector General of Police, who is heading the entire police force in the State,’’ he said.
The programme was organised by Dr Sudhakar, MLA, Chikkaballapur, to make women self-sufficient and economically independent with the help of training and income generating activities so as to enhance their earning capacity and to bring up their status in life.
Dr Sudhakar has been instrumental in diverse activities in social service sectors, especially in providing access to quality education for the under privileged, women empowerment, health and wellness camps, cultural and youth centric activities as Founder and Managing Trustee of the Sri Sai Krishna Charitable Trust.
In the past, he said loans used to be disbursed by nationalised banks and private NGO's with 10% to 12% interest rates, which was a huge burden. But Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had taken a huge step towards women empowerment by this initiative to provide interest-free loans to women's SHGs through Co-operative banks.
“Our aim is to ensure economic development and integration of women into the main stream of society and also as individuals with a right to human dignity,’’ he said.