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Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's wife Dr Siti Hasmah was impressed by the success of the women's self-help groups in rural Andhra Pradesh.
On the second day of her visit to Hyderabad on Thursday, Hasmah interacted with members of DWCRA [Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas] groups and said the example set by them was worth emulating.
"It is an example of how women can come together given an opportunity and training to be on their own," she said.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Women's Empowerment, C S Ramalakshmi, briefed Hasmah on the activities of DWCRA. She pointed out that the self-help movement was an offshoot of the 'total-literacy' campaigns and 'anti-arrack' agitation by women in the state.
There are 440,000 groups of the DWCRA, with a membership of 5.6 million women. They have accumulated Rs 8 billion [approximately $165 million] and have availed of bank loans amounting to Rs 7 billion [$144.32 million], Ramalakshmi said.
The women also produce 450 products and market them with the support of the government, she explained.
Hasmah, accompanied by her 15-year-old daughter and other women from the Malaysian delegation, chatted with the members of the DWCRA and also visited an exhibition of the products manufactured by them.
The DWCRA women presented Hasmah and her entourage with tribal dresses, leather bags, hats, and boxes made of leaves. She also purchased some handmade products.
Recalling Malaysia's efforts to eradicate poverty and empower women following independence in 1957, Hasmah spoke about her life and experiences as a doctor working in rural areas.
"I found how difficult it is to be a doctor in rural areas," she said. "Women were traditional, conservative and felt shy of visiting hospitals. They used to come in the last stage of any disease and die. The people use to ransack the hospitals in anger."
She said Malaysia launched an awareness campaign to force women to approach hospitals.
She praised Andhra Pradesh's achievement in bringing down the population growth rate and said, "Population is not a problem for us. It is only 22.5 million now and [the] growth rate is static at the moment." She said she had seven children and 15 grandchildren.
Hasmah said economic and political stability could be achieved only by eradicating poverty. Post-independence, Malaysia also focused on literacy and health, she said.
She pointed out that her country could achieve success in the health sector by ensuring 100 per cent immunisation and breast-feeding of babies.
Malaysia too had self-help groups based on the Grameena Bank system of Bangladesh and had made significant progress in rural areas, she said.
"I will go back to my home country with your success story," she remarked. "The concept of thrift and self-help would enable women to become leaders of the state and the nation and enjoy the same opportunities like everybody else in the world."
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