Yashaswini lighting up lives of needy rural women

She used to pluck flowers to pay for her education till standard X. Enrolment for a diploma course in civil engineering has become a dream come true for the polio-affected Savita Misal from Yavat village.

BAIF Development Research Foundation’s Yashaswini project has made her self-dependent.

The organisation, earlier known as Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation (BAIF), has trained 74 socio-economically disadvantaged women in the last four years.

Gandhian Manibhai Desai had founded the organisation that has its headquarters in Pune and is mainly involved in promoting sustainable livelihood for rural people.

The fourth batch of 17 women will successfully complete the six-month training under Yashaswini on February 4. The training centre is situated in Uruli Kanchan, 20 km from Pune.

Misal, 24, completed her training in the second batch in 2009. Born to a poor family in Yavat, she developed physical disability due to polio at a young age. The ailment affected her walking and speech abilities. She used to work in the fields to support her education. Her parents could not find a match for her due to her physical deformity, and financial problems also led her to attempt suicide.

Fortunately, through a self-help group (SHG), she got to know about the BAIF project. Post-Yashaswini, she could take up a computer operator job. From the money saved, she has now enrolled for a diploma course in civil engineering in Akluj.

She told DNA, “The course has given confidence and opened a new world to me. I used to be a timid village girl. I have come a long way and am still to achieve a lot.”

Shubhangi Ranavare, 22, of Phaltan village in Satara district is all praise for Yashaswini.

After her standard X, Ranavare was married off at the age of 17 years. She suffered torture at the hands of her in-laws and came to her parents’ house when she became pregnant.

However, her in-laws refused to take her back after the birth of her daughter. After two years, her husband took her to Mumbai where he found a job. But he died in an accident.

After joining Yashaswini in 2009, Ranavare developed the skill to communicate and manage the work of SHGs. She was referred to take up employment with one of the BAIF projects in Nagothane in Raigad district. She started guiding women to form SHGs, form bank linkages and teach them food and fruit processing skills. She is now able to support her daughter.

Yashaswini coordinator Meena Gokhale said, “The residential course was started in 2007 to train and equip the socio-economically disadvantaged rural women.

There are around 20 trainees in a batch. The trainees are in the age group of 18 to 35 years. Most of them are widows, divorced or deserted women. Women issues, communication skills, rights of women, computer training, general awareness, livestock management and food processing skills are included in the training.”

On February 4, 17 more women will step out from Yashaswini training centre with a new vision and promising future.