Women’s Technology Park, a brainchild of the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), has been established with the objective of utilizing technology to help women in rural areas earn a livelihood. The initiative was conceptualised by Dr. Neelu J. Ahuja, Dr. Bhawna Yadav Lamba, and Dr. Kanchan D. Bahukhandi. Having received a grant from Science for Equity Empowerment and Development, the Women’s Technology Park, launched in 2015, caters to the villages located within a 20km range from the campus, in the Dehradun district. The initiative has three components - Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Waste Paper Recycling and Identification of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants.

The ICT helps women involved in arts and crafts. A laboratory set up in the university campus is accessible by the women in the village, who are trained to design on the computer using softwares. This helps them to create newer designs and they are helped by bamboo artisans to innovate in accordance to the trending designs.

“Being a university, we have plenty of waste paper that can be converted into useful products, thereby increasing employment opportunities for rural women,” says Dr. Bhawna.
A women’s self-help group is taught to create pencil-holders, cardboards, etc. in collaborating the UPES team. Paper recycling machines are used to create pencils out of waste paper.

Farmers from ten villages in the area have been grouped together, and tand are taught to recognise and cultivate plants like lemongrass and aloevera. These farmers are provided with all the necessary equipment, ranging form seeds to fertilizers.

The efforts of the UPES team is commendable and hopefully inspires similar initiatives across the country. Rights for women as a movement has gained momentum in urban areas, but initiatives like this can help women in relatively remote parts of the country to gain a footing in a male-dominated society; financial independence becomes a driving factor in the empowerment of women.

Feature image via College Dekho