Women play vital roles in socio-economic development of our country: Nagaland Gov

Kohima, November 29 (MExN): “Women play vital roles in the socio-economic development of our country but are usually the unsung heroes,” La Ganesan, Governor of Nagaland stated on Thursday. 

“Women in the unorganized sector often work tirelessly behind the scenes. In Nagaland, they comprise a significant portion of this sector, making invaluable contributions that are both diverse and essential,” he said addressing the seminar on ‘Women Working in the Unorganised Sector in Nagaland: Challenges and Opportunities’ held at State Academy Hall, Kohima on November 28. 

The seminar was organised by The Entrepreneurs Associates (tEA) in partnership with the National Commission for Women, stated a press release received here. 

The Governor said that according to the e-Shram portal report of 2021, approximately 8% of Nagaland’s population is engaged in the informal sector, with women comprising more than half of this workforce. “These remarkable women are not just contributors, but many are the primary breadwinners of their families. The resilience and dedication of these women have consistently influenced and moulded the socio-economic landscape of our state and our country,” he added. 

Earlier, Neikule Doulo, Executive Director, tEA in the keynote address stated that tEA has worked with women in urban and rural settings in the unorganised sector, providing them with financial services and linkages, training, and capacity building. “Today 70% of tEA’s beneficiaries for financial services are women. Our works with banks and financial institutes have women at the core of our interventions,” she stated.

She stressed that women will continue dominating the unorganised sector for years to come with variations. And therefore, it is essential and imperative that “if our society wants to move forward and progress, we must take these women along with us as part of our growth.”

The first session was followed by a presentation on ‘tEA’s Journey with Women in the Unorganised Sector’ by Chunjanglu, tEA Operations Supervisor, Tekhengutele, tEA Project Associate and Manpang Nyiam, tEA Project Coordinator. 

In their presentation, they emphasised on the crucial interventions of tEA in the lives of women in the unorganised sector, not just in Nagaland but across Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. From the inception of its flagship programme ‘Uplifting Women Street Vendors Program’ in 2017, and introduction of Zero Interest Loans in 2020, to the multiple projects taken up with various partners over the years, tEA continues to work for the women in the unorganised sector, going beyond skills training by changing their attitude and opening doors for them.

Lived realities of women in Unorganised Sector in Nagaland
A report titled, ‘Lived Realities of Women in the Unorganised Sector in Nagaland’ was released by the Governor of Nagaland. The report was prepared by tEA’s Research and Development (R&D) team, and a brief presentation on the report was given by the R&D members Tongtimenla Jamir and Kekhriesituo Yaotsu.

The report is the result of a study of 1212 women, who are beneficiaries of tEA’s various projects and programmes. Some of the crucial findings from the report included the age distribution with 36% of them in the ‘36 to 46 year’ age group, and 27.7% in the ‘18 to 35 year’ age group. 

Another finding was that women in this sector are defined by low educational level with 8% of them being graduates and above, 34% receiving secondary education, 35.4% receiving primary education, and 22.6% having no formal education. As for their marital status, 74.5% are married.

As for their lived realities, they shared that a total of 231 women, out of 1,212 faced infrastructural challenges which poses as a huge challenge, as this disrupts the women from carrying out their works efficiently. 

“The relation between women’s safety and infrastructure becomes deeply evident,” shared Kekhriesituo, as there have been cases of some women who have been victims of assault by intoxicated men. Lack of toilet and sanitation facilities, complex system of procuring loans, absence of digital and financial literacy are the other challenges which needs interventions and sustainable policy changes. 

The second session included three technical sessions with the following resource persons and the respective topics: Dr Pangjung Pongen, Consultant UNICEF, Department of Health & Family Welfare – Social Security Health Schemes for Women; Kreho Athili, Deputy Branch Manager, SBI Kohima-Becoming Bankable to Avail Financial Services; and Mezivolu T Therieh, Principal Judge, Kohima Family Court and Former OSD Registrar, Supreme Court of India -Laws for Safeguarding Women in the Unorganised Sector.

The technical session was followed up with a Q&A session.

Swelvi Puyo, tEA Head Accountant concluded the seminar with a session on ‘Financial Management and tEA services’ along with an interactive session. The seminar was chaired by Susan Angami, tEA Advisor.