A large number of women in India are involved in agriculture and other land-based activities. But they have a limited scope of exposure to modern developments and technologies. The question, therefore, arises as to what new approaches would be relevant to stimulate economic growth and development on the basis of raising the productivity of women residing in the rural areas.

    The Department of Science and Technology (S&T) gives focussed attention to the socio-economic development of women through a scheme called -Science and Technology for Women+. The emphasis is on improving their living conditions, reduce drudgery, provide income generation opportunities through skill development and by training them in health and nutrition to enable them to achieve a better quality of life. A variety of technological interventions have been attempted in various sectors of economy both in farm and non-farm sectors. With the experience gained so far, the Department is convinced that science and technology can provide sustainable development through an integrated and multi-sectoral approach. Through this endeavour a number of technologies have been developed. Efforts have been made to optimise the production processes based on natural and human resources. The relevant features of the available programme have been the involvement of field-based voluntary organisations with in-house science and technology capabilities and also ensuring people's participation.

    As a step towards this endeavour, the Department has identified two regions - Coastal Region and Mountain Region-to establish Technology Parks exclusively for women which will also to be run by them.

    The Women's Technology Park in the west zone will cover the coastal districts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gujarat. This Park will transcend the political boundaries of these States to a network of NGOs working in all the coastal districts. The organisation selected to collaborate in facilitating this Park is Bharatiya Vikas Trust at Manipal-an organisation which has been working in the area for the past two decades.

    Another Women's Technology Park in the Mountain Region is being set up by an NGO named Himalayan Environment Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO) at Chamoli in Uttar Pradesh. It will cater to women of Himachal Pradesh, hilly regions of Uttar Pradesh and the North Eastern States. The objectives of the Women Technology Park are to create awareness of the new technologies, instruments and appliances which are friendly to women in their day-to-day work. Besides giving them exposure for effective utilisation of natural resources like land, water and vegetation they also specify effective use for their day-to-day requirement. They provide technological solutions to problems faced by women by networking NGOs and research institutions in the area and providing opportunities to women for better utilisation of by products and wastes for value addition. They further provide scope for skill upgradation towards higher productivity and economic gains and also establish linkages with the Panchayati Raj Institutions for effective implementation and monitoring of the initiatives taken by the Department of Science & Technology.
 

Popular Participation

    A co-ordinated programme on demonstration-cum-training in electricals, electronics, computers and information technology for women is also being launched at thirteen locations across the country. Two of these units will be in the Technology Parks. Some selected locations are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir and the North-Eastern States. These units will also be run by women.

    The Parks will provide facilities for training programmes for various trades which are location-specific. These activities will be replicated in other parts of the country in due course. The main task is to develop appropriate and relevant technologies, demonstrated through the Technology Park mechanism and facilitate their adaptation and transfer leading to replication by other agencies. The scheme is intended to help thousands of under-privileged women to achieve a better quality of life.