The Yogi Adityanath Government in Uttar Pradesh has launched a series of initiatives under Mission Shakti to empower women in the state. In pursuant to the goal, the government is providing training to women village heads with a vision to enhance women’s participation in the development of villages.

The primary objective of this training is to connect the villages with development and play a crucial role in making the state a trillion-dollar economy. Through this training, women village heads are being made aware of their rights and equipped with skills to carry out administrative responsibilities. The government further aims to empower them to be effective leaders in their communities.

As part of the Mission Shakti, approximately 3,693 women village heads have been trained in 25 districts by the Panchayati Raj Training Institute (PRTI). Moreover, more than 26,000 women village heads in the state will receive training in various phases.

Under the mission, The training program has been organised for women village heads by the Panchayati Raj Training Institute (PRTI). The training focuses on educating them about their rights, duties, and how to perform tasks traditionally handled by men.

In the training, women representatives are also being informed about their administrative responsibilities, the functioning of the village secretariat, and the operation of public service centers. This enables them to understand how to prepare a blueprint for the overall development of the village and present it effectively to the authorities.

Additionally, they are being trained to achieve Sustainable Development Goals through localization with the support of the Gram Panchayat, prioritize monitoring of health, nutrition, and sanitation services, and acquire leadership skills.

According to the Secretary of Panchayati Raj, Manoj Kumar Singh, the training program is being conducted to strengthen the rural economy in line with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s vision and to enhance women’s participation. It has been observed that women are more vigilant about overall village development, basic amenities, and family health, he pointed out.

With this perspective, efforts are being made to empower women village heads so that they can effectively shoulder the responsibilities of the entire village’s health, security, and development. To achieve this goal, the Panchayati Raj Department of the Uttar Pradesh government has partnered with the Center for Catalyzing Change (C3) to ensure continuous monitoring of essential services related to health, nutrition, and sanitation by the elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj institutions.

In this regard, women village heads are being trained in leadership skills, communication, and gender equality. Both institutions have prepared a two-day training module under the Mission Shakti programme. As per this module, master trainers in each district are training female village heads.

Information on maternal and child nutrition, precautions during pregnancy, malnutrition, and other health services is being given during the training. Additionally, there is an elaborate explanation of the role of the village head in monitoring. It is also being explained how to ensure the presence of Panchayat members during the Village Health, Sanitation, and Nutrition Day. The village head is being informed about the available health resources in the village, the workers, and their duties.