Recognizing the importance of women's participation in governance, a non-governmental organisation has decided to develop a programme to encourage environmental initiatives in rural areas of Rajasthan.
According to the NGO's statement Tuesday, the Centre for Social Research (CSR), a women's rights institution, has partnered with Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany to develop a training programme to empower elected and to-be-elected women representatives to take leadership roles in water management and conservation within their communities.
"It also builds their knowledge of water issues, understanding of available government schemes and initiatives to address water concerns and capacity to use their power as elected representatives to address such issues within their communities," it said.
"A rural woman spends more than half of her life addressing water concerns in her family. It is, therefore, extremely important to train and enhance knowledge of these women at the grassroots, so that they understand climatic issues and address the needs of their communities," Ranjana Kumari, director, CSR said.
The programme began in 2012 and has successfully managed to complete two phases.
The training module also aims to increase an understanding of the connection between water issues and gender inequality, increase knowledge amongst elected women representatives of tools and schemes for water conservation and increase their capacity to lead water conservation initiatives at village levels.
The CSR has also conducted a pilot training programme for 20 elected women representatives on their role in water conservation and how to use the government schemes related to water resources effectively.