Stree Mukti Sanghatana

Some of their 2012-13 activities were as follows:

• Programme for Wastepickers – Parisar Vikas: In coordination with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), this programme aims to address the problems of waste management and self-employed women who collect waste. SMS works to organise and train women rag pickers by issuing identity cards to them, help them form waste cooperatives, establish self-help or micro-credit groups, help them to get the right price for recyclable waste collected, train women in alternative skills such as gardening and vermiculture, as well as promoting health awareness, education programmes, and providing family counselling. They also spread awareness on ‘zero waste’ which is generated at home and manageable, so as not to be sent to dumping grounds. SMS encourages that waste should be separated into dry and wet, where the wet waste goes into a local manure pit and the dry waste goes back to the manufacturer for recycling.
• Family Counselling: SMS currently has 10 counselling centres for distressed women in 7 districts of Maharashtra to mitigate domestic, societal, and state violence. SMS works to develop a proper perspective on the issue of gender violence, to help individual victims, to advocate for self-reliance among women, lend support to sister organisations doing similar work, provide vocational guidance, aid in the procurement of employment, and refer cases for temporary shelter.
• Day Care Centres: Amache Ghar was created as a facility for babysitting children between the ages of 3 months to 15 years on a monthly basis. Children are provided with one full meal, 2 snacks, and a cup of milk every day. Books in Marathi, Hindi and English are available for children.
• Adolescent Sensitisation: Jidnyasa or Quest was created to establish a dialogue with students on issues relevant to their lives and often ignored in their education. SMS conducts 18-hour modules covering stress management, value education, vocational guidance, the risk of addiction, and sexual education. Jidnyasa uses a workshop mode with activists who role play, sing songs, and conduct games to relay their messages. The programme is currently offered in 13 different districts throughout Maharashtra.