Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: World Bank vice-president Katherine Sierra had a pleasant outing in a tiny village in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh on February 9. Interaction with members of women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and the "tremendous progress" they have achieved under the Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas programme has left the top official from the World Bank "highly impressed." Katherine was in Andhra Pradesh on a day's visit to Mondegourelli village in Ranga Reddy district to study the implementation of the Dwcra scheme and the empowerment of women through various initiatives undertaken by the government. Aided by a high-level team of officials including World Bank's Indian co-ordinator Parmesh Shah, Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty chief executive officer T Vijay Kumar and Ranga Reddy district M Dana Kishore, Katherine went around some houses in the village under Yacharam revenue mandal and quizzed the SHG members about the thrift activities micro-finance facilities, employment-generation programmes, skill development activities and the overall functioning of the groups. The SHG members explained the novel three per cent interest scheme launched by the state government and the benefit accrued from it. The World Bank vice-president, in particular, was appreciative of the initiatives for the physically-challenged persons. Katherine also interacted with local farmers and learned about the innovative sustainable agricultural practices, including pesticide-free farming, adopted by them. She told the SHG members as well as the accompanying government officials that the World Bank would try to adopt certain features of the SHG movement in Andhra Pradesh while formulating programmes for women and child empowerment elsewhere.
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