Oppam : Together, for Women and beyond!

“I measure the progress of a community with the degree of progress women have achieved”.

Well, whether India has done justice to this statement coined by the Father of the Indian Constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, is ambiguous and questionable. Information from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) point out that the employability gender gap in India is 50.9%, with only 19.2% of women in the labour force compared to 70.1% of men. The World Economic Forum (WEF) states that at the current pace of progress, we’ll have to wait another 132 years to achieve absolute gender parity.

The dignity of a nation is the dignity it serves its women. A country that holds back its women can neither achieve development nor serve justice. The exclusion of women from various sects of the society have them bereft, incapable of benefitting from various public policies, meant for development. Although Kerala has achieved the feat of being the most literate state of the country, even today women here, lack support and sources that help them discover their resourceful capabilities and build their economic independence as well as achieve equality.

This vision became the guiding light of Adv. I.B. Satheesh, Member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly representing the Kattakkada Constituency in the district of Thiruvananthapuram to launch his brainchild, the novel initiative called ‘OPPAM’. It is its ‘first of a kind’ initiative in the state. The concept of OPPAM was unraveled during the implementation of PROJECT JALASAMRIDHI, another initiative to increase ground water level in the constituency. OPPAM was launched on March 8, 2018 commemorating International Women’s Day.

PROJECT OPPAM specifically envisages to convert Kattakkada into a women-friendly constituency, to eliminate gender-based discrimination and ensure justice to women. The goal of OPPAM is rendering the active participation of women in various fields, from 6 panchayats of the constituency and aid them to foster their socio-economic independence, and ensure the awareness of their rights, thereby building gender equality. The vision of OPPAM extends beyond, to women from the downtrodden sections of the society as well; enable them to enjoy their freedom, equal justice and equality in opportunity by ensuring better living standards, eliminating the gender-based barriers, both internal and external to households.

The 2018-19 Official Economic Budget of the Kerala Government declared the vision of a ‘GENDER-BUDGET’ which paved way for the creation of OPPAM. The project is indeed, a culmination of various initiatives carried out by Government agencies and local bodies, consolidated from the MLA Allocated Fund.

In a friendly interaction with Deputy Collector Mrs. Sheeja Beegom who has extensively involved in OPPAM to ensure its effective implementation, she enumerated on the impact achieved so far:

“We have managed to establish FEMALE-FRIENDLY rooms in educational institutions to support girls when undergoing menstruation, Waiting rooms for women especially mothers who travel, to cater to their private needs, AMMAVEEDU for housewives to interact and utilise time thereby reducing their isolation, OPPAM COUNSELLING CENTER for addressing mental health issues of women, OPPAM VANITHA FACILITY CENTER for women self-help and promotion of small-scale business, women-friendly Medical Camps and Legal Aid Centers, and much more..”

She pointed out that it is in reality, difficult for numerous women to make their first move.

‘OPPAM was initiated on the realisation that, what a woman needs most, is care from her family and the society. A backbone of understanding, compassion and support is necessary to help a woman build her dreams. Without these virtues, imagining empowerment is meaningless. We need more listeners for women, and that is why OPPAM exists today’.

OPPAM is a reminder to us that a woman, whether she’s inside or outside her home, exercises the same degree of freedom and justice. As a concluding note, here’s a reminder:

“When we invest in women and girls, we are investing in the people who invest in everyone else.”