Women must be put in a position to slove their own problems in their own way. And the Indian women are as capable of doing it as any in the world.

Motherliness, hardwrok, sacrifice , intelligence, and sense of responsibility are the characteristics of Indian women. Systematic onslaught on these qualities , primacy to her physical attributes are degrading women to commodity value rather than upholding the grand ideal of Hindu wonmanhood – the mother – the first Guru of the family.
Based on this Vivekananda Kendra Vocational Training Center,(VKVTC) started in 1997 in Seijosa, to train women to be economically self-reliant.The six-month course consists of training in carpet-weaving , tailoring , Gale(Traditional Arunachali woman-wear) making, etc. In addition primary reading and writing skills, cooking, health and hygiene, story-telling, patriotic songs, etc. are also taught. The selection of trainees is through Arun Jyoti centers.

Focus : Strengthen human resource intensive technology. Socio-economic empowerment, capacity-building, Natural – resource management, Mother and child Health care, Education , Nutrition, Collective action for common causes, skill development in areas women are already skilled in value-addition to products.

Nature of Training : Multi-dimensional -vocational, Educational and Cultural

Skill: Tailoring ,knitting, crochet, Pickle, Jam and sauce preparation, packaging, bee-keeping, marketing.

Adaptability : Design and produce products as per reuqirement.

Habit Formation : Daily routine, Health, hygiene, Nutrition Literacy – reading , writing , counting.

Languages : Hindi and English.

Confidence Development : Yoga, Martial Arts

Horticulture : Develop Kitchen gardens.

Community Perspective : Conducting Value Education classes for children, story-telling , women's Awareness camps, community festivals celebrations, etc..

Marketing : Become job creators and not job seekers.
Details : Residential well Furnished training centre;trainees(girls) are drawn from interior villages.

Impact : Socio-Economic and Cultural :

• Sourcing the finished products from trained girls who produce it in their own homes. Family income is substantially augmented as many a family subsists below the poverty line.
• Improved standard of living including health, hygiene.
• Capacity to withstand cultural shocks – brought in by Westernization disguised as modernization – is increasing
• Standing by one's own Sevadhrma in the face of alien pressure.
• Ushering in concept of Development through Culture.
• Development hundreds of families as production centers in the nearby villages and usher in prosperity.
• Education : Start balwadis – pre-primary training centers
• Strengthen youth activities
• Impart more community- based training.





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Vivekananda Kendra Rural Welfare Programme, Khatkhati, Assam, India

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For more information visit Vivekananda Kendra Arunjyoti : http://www.vkarunjyoti.org