She Dreamt, She Conquered

We take a look at some grassroots women achievers from the Northeast who serve as an inspiration to young girls, and boys, everywhere

- Manjum Mahanta

In all honesty, we still have a long way to go in terms of women empowerment and gender equality, but women with potential across the world have refused to stay still and succumb to obstacles that life throws at them. Instead, they have persevered and made waves in different fields, proving that they can equal any man in any job/task that they set their minds to. As determination to be self-dependent and financially independent can be seen in urban areas as well as in rural areas.

Even in the Northeast, women are slowly coming out of their comfort zones to start initiatives and run businesses successfully. Women are taking the lead, not only in the cities but also in villages. Chikimiki Talukdar, Chairperson of the Assam State Women’s Commission shared, ‘The sense of independence amongst women in Assam is increasing day by day. We often organise awareness camps in different districts across Assam on women rights and criminal offence against women. And the participation that we see in these districts clearly shows their sense of freedom and independence.’

State Mission Director of Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission, Nandita Hazarika, added, ‘There are many Self Help Groups in rural areas across Assam who we meet during program execution. Some women and girls are doing tremendous work, taking on initiatives individually in order to bring changes to their lives and their community as well. Take for example, Deepika Boro from Lakhimpur. She has been running a pig farm for many years and it has been pretty successful. Her farm in on the large scale, and has helped generate employment for other women in the village.’

Niti Aayog’s report on women safety for the year 2019-2020 mentioned that states in the Northeast have more women in developmental jobs than other states in the country. And the contribution from the region is mostly by the grassroots women.