Patna: The Bihar govt has set an ambitious target of directly linking one crore women with jobs and employment opportunities in the next three years before the assembly elections, while plans are also under way to establish ‘Jeevika-Sudha’ sales centres in all 8,053 panchayats of the state, chief minister Samrat Choudhary said on Tuesday.Addressing programmes related to COMFED, the health department’s ‘Anaemia-Free Bihar’ campaign, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes welfare department and social welfare department, the CM said women’s economic empowerment would be central to Bihar’s development.As a Raksha Bandhan initiative, district magistrates in all 38 districts will inaugurate one ‘Jeevika-Sudha’ sales centre each. ‘Sudha Sakhis’ will subsequently be selected in all 8,053 panchayats through milk producer cooperative societies. Their training is proposed under the Pradhan Mantri Internship Scheme.A six-day training programme for the first batch of 38 Sudha Sakhis is scheduled to be held at COMFED headquarters in Patna from Aug 27 to Sept 5.“Our govt is fully committed to the safety, dignity, health and economic empowerment of our sisters,” Choudhary said. He added that the anaemia campaign would focus on prevention, screening, treatment and awareness on a large scale.The CM handed over keys and selection certificates to five Jeevika Didis for the new sales centres. Each selected woman was provided with a 300-litre deep freezer and visi-cooler, besides sunboards, aprons and caps.The CM also highlighted the newly-established Mithila Handicraft Cooperative Society, aimed at taking traditional Mithila art from “local art to the global market”. The society will provide women artists with market access, branding, training and financial support.In its first phase, Mithila handicraft products are proposed to be marketed and exported to the world-famous Angkor Wat region of Cambodia, providing local women artisans an opportunity to access international markets.“It is our resolve to ensure that the sisters of Bihar are not merely beneficiaries of schemes, but active participants in employment, economic self-reliance and better health,” the CM said.
