J&K LG launches HAUSLA; embarks on new era in women entrepreneurship [details]

Gender disparities despite equal rights for both men and women in the constitution of India has been a long-standing problem. While various initiatives have tried to tackle this concern head-on, the ground reality remains different. The J&K government is dedicating its new initiative solely for the empowerment of women and it aims to start a new era in women entrepreneurship. J&K LG Manoj Sinha launched "HAUSLA — Inspiring her growth", a comprehensive programme for catalysing women entrepreneurship in the UT.

This new initiative is the step in the right direction to give women entrepreneurs in the valley with much-needed exposure. The scheme provides them with markets, networks, training and support to build an ecosystem that inspires other local women entrepreneurs.

"There is no field- political, social or economic in which the women of Jammu and Kashmir haven't earned accolades and prestige. The social status of women in the society of Jammu and Kashmir was much better than other parts of the country even several centuries ago," Sinha noted.

HAUSLA - Empowering women entrepreneurs in J&K

The new initiative will serve as a crucial aspect of overall development process in the UT. LG said HAUSLA will reduce the gap between women and men entrepreneurs and give a platform for educated women to reach their full potential and channel their business acumen.

Sinha said the HAUSLA programme is designed in a way that it helps women entrepreneurs overcome major challenges related to finance, legal and societal bias and encourages women who are currently engaged in various professions, to become a part of 'HAUSLA' program.

"I believe that through skill and blended training under Hausla program the participation of Women can be increased in IT, Telemedicine, e-learning Business, Fashion Designing, Painting, Publishing, Handicrafts, Food Processing, and e-Commerce," Sinha added.

The first phase of HAUSLA's 5-month program commences with 100 women entrepreneurs next month. The J&K government is working on the three pillars of action: Making women financially independent, Ensuring their maximum participation in leadership role, and Paying special attention to their health and socio-economic security.

J&K already has its foot inside the door with respect to women's empowerment. LG said of the 158 gold medalists at the recent convocation ceremony of Islamic University of Science and Technology, 105 were girls, who performed exceptionally well in the fields of engineering, science, food technology, computer applications.

Realising challenges, ways to overcome them

Despite it all, LG Sinha is not dismissive of the improvements that are needed in the area. He pointed out the statistics that showed only 13.41 percent of the ownership in all industrial establishments in the country and 21.89 percent of ownership was by women in handicrafts and handloom establishments as compared to 77.74 percent men. This needs to change, the LG emphasized.

In that context, LG Sinha directed HAUSLA and Mission Youth teams along with J&K Rural Livelihood Mission (RLM) to start a program called "Champion for Innovation" as training module to encourage women to innovate in different fields from handicrafts to IT and make their products available in the market.

The administration is using four mantras of Robust policy, Right channel, Active participation and Effective implementation to achieve greater results.

"Today when the aspirations of the people have increased, especially when women want to move ahead in every field, then it is our responsibility to provide them with the right platform," the Lt Governor noted.