Parwaaz gives Juhapura women a taste of freedom
Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, July 25:UNTIL five years ago, the women of Juhapura had not ventured beyond the confines of their small neighbourhood. The riots of 2002, however, changed everything.
As the riots left most male members of the area jobless, 20 women began a savings group called Parwaaz. With children to feed and rents to pay, saving even Rs 20 from their monthly household expenses was a hard task. However, they still managed to save some and deposited the amount in a group savings account managed by the accounts arm of Parwaaz.
In the last five years, Parwaaz has grown from twenty to over 500 in number. Two years ago, Arza Bibi took a loan of Rs 1,000 on a rate of 2 per cent interest from Parwaaz. She bought mehendi powder and sold it, making 100 per cent profit in Solapur, Maharashtra. “Now, I make a profit of almost Rs 1,500 every month,” says Bibi, who owns a credit card.
But just saving money is not what all these women do. Parwaaz also fights against domestic violence, abusive husbands and in-laws, besides empowering women to sustain themselves by helping them start small business.
Jaheda Banu Syed, a member, said, “Now, we often go out in the middle of the night to rescue distressed women from their abusive husbands.” Farzana Pathan, president of Parwaaz, said, “There was stiff resistance when we first stepped out of our homes to attend meetings. In the face of such opposition, we raised sensitive issues such as domestic violence against women.”
The members of Parwaaz barge into any house where they hear of a woman being abused. “At first, the family resists our intervention, but we usually succeed in rescuing the woman,” says Munir-un-Nisha, another member.
If polite conversation and counselling fail to work, Parwaaz goes ahead and files a case against the errant husband or relative.
It also raises civic issues such as overflowing gutters, ration and lack of amenities in this neglected township. Barging into the collector’s office or local municipal commissioner’s office, the sheer numerical strength of the women has forced local officials to take action.
Every month, a group from Parwaaz visit another women’s organisation and learn their system of working. So far, these women have visited Patdi, Hyderabad, Surendranagar, Kutch, Bhuj, Baroda, Udaipur, Jaipur and Mumbai.
Shabana Iqbal Shaikh, a member, says, “We participate actively in decision-making at home. We are now truly empowered.”
Source: Indian Express