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Women Welfare / Development

Municipal platform to protect women at workplace

Tuesday, 08 June 2010 10:26 administrator
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Indian Express   08.06.2010

 Municipal platform to protect women at workplace

Express News Service Tags : women safety at workplace, mumbai Posted: Tue Jun 08 2010, 23:27 hrs

Mumbai:  From Tuesday, Mumbai’s working women will have a support platform that will strive towards eliminating sexual harassment at the workplace.

Aimed at making Mumbai a “gender friendly city”, the BMC’s Savitribai Phule Gender Resource Centre will be inaugurated by municipal commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya. Such centres have been set up by NGOs but this is the first by a civic body.

Built on a municipal reserved plot at Balaseth Murudkar Marg in Lower Parel, the centre is the result of the efforts of the civic body’s committee on prevention of sexual harassment, formed in 2003 for women in municipal offices. Dr Kamakshi Bhate of KEM Hospital said it will also serve as a platform for various agencies and NGOs working towards empowerment of urban working women, especially those from BPL families.

“NGOs such as Akshara, Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Sneha and Lawyers Collective have already come forward and agreed to share their resources for complaints redressal, counselling and training. We will also involve corporate firms and various UN programmes. We will also have community psychiatric units in slum areas to help women who undergo various forms of embarrassment, at home and at their workplaces,” said Bhate.

One of the main areas of focus will be a violence resource centre, a platform for redressal of complaints. Any woman harassed can complain and will be counselled by trained persons. A community video unit will involve youths in highlighting and documenting women’s issues and violence against women.

The centre will include self-defence training, and a library and a reading room. It will be open to school and college girls from BPL families who mostly live in one-room houses without a place to study. “A preventive health clinic open to all girls and women will be on the premises,” said Dr Bhate.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 June 2010 10:29
 

In Brief

Thursday, 06 May 2010 11:47 administrator
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Indian Express 06.05.2010

In Brief

Express News Service Tags : IE, brief pune Posted: Thursday , May 06, 2010 at 0026 hrs

Pune: Civic body nod for 180 days’ maternity leave

The standing committee of the PMC on Tuesday approved the civic administration’s proposal that its women employees were entitled to180 days of maternity leave as applicable to those working for the state and union government.

“It was decided to make applicable the union and state government provision of 180 days leave to PMC women employees. The state government had issued a resolution in 2009 allowing the same ,” said Arvind Shinde, chairman, standing committee.

Audyogik Shikshan Mandal to hold convocation on May 8 Audyogik Shikshan Mandal's Institute of International Business & Research, Chinchwad, Pune will hold its 13th convocation at 4 00 pm at the institute's Auditorium on May 8.

Dr S N Pathan, Vice Chancellor, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University Nagpur, will deliver the convocational address and Dr M G Takwale, former Vice Chancellor, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, and Surendrakumar Jain, vice president, MCCIA,Pune will the be guest sof honour. The institute,established in 1995 was amongst the first autonomous management institutes in Pune to get AICTE approval in 2007. The second batch of PGDM will be conferred the degree on this occasion.

 

 

Last Updated on Thursday, 06 May 2010 11:55
 

150 women to be trained under PCMC's new waste collection scheme

Thursday, 22 April 2010 12:02 administrator
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The Times of India 22.04.2010

150 women to be trained under PCMC's new waste collection scheme

Dipannita Das, TNN, Apr 22, 2010, 07.52am IST
PUNE: Don't be surprised if one day a group of young women drives up to your house in a rickshaw and collects your garbage. These women are the children of waste-pickers and are being trained by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in the collection, segregation and disposal of solid waste generated in homes and small commercial establishments.

The project is part of the new decentralised model being adopted by the PCMC as part of door-to-door collection.

Laxmi Narayan, general-secretary of the Kagad Kach Patra Kahstakari Panchayat (KKPKP), an association of waste-pickers to which the women belong, told TOI that the training of the women, all in the age group of 18 to 25, is funded by PCMC under its poverty alleviation scheme. These women are taught how to drive by a driving agency. Some 150 women will be trained in driving.

There are more than 3 lakh households in the PCMC areas and around 600 metric tonnes of waste is generated per day.

At present, 50-55% of the garbage is collected. This new model was suggested by the KKPKP and Swach Pune, in order ensure 100% collection and facilitate the process.

Sakina Bahora of the KKPKP said that one autorikshaw will collect garbage from 1,650 households every day. Every vehicle will have a driver and two waste-pickers. In the first phase, 116 autorikshaws will cover wards A and D of the PCMC. Later, after the system is in place, it will be taken up in wards B and C.

In the new model, garbage will be segregated. Wet waste will go to the landfill and dry waste for recycling. It will involve a user charge from citizens. By the fifth year, it will be zero cost to the PCMC, said Bahora.

K Nagkumar, PCMC medical officer, said that the system will start in June. The training of women drivers has been started. 150 vehicles will be used for the purpose.

The ministry of urban development under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) has approved the model. Half of the project cost will be funded by the central government, 25% by the state government and 30% by the corporation, he said.

"There will be no manual handling. Compactors (a machine used to reduce the size of waste material or soil through compaction) will also be used. The idea is to stop manual unloading of the garbage and improve the standard of living of waste-pickers. Tata Motors is providing the chassis and the hoppers will be provided by the Maharashtra State Development Corporation,'' Nagkumar added.
 
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