The aim of this program is to create sustainable livelihoods for rural women and adolescent girls by way of imparting training and building skills in sewing, designing, and embroidery. These women and the adolescent girls are from among the marginalized communities and sizeable numbers of them belong to the Musahar community which is located on the margins of social and economic development and scoring lowest on the human development indicators in India.
Bodhgaya’s preeminent position as the pre-eminent center of the Buddhist world has been reaffirmed through the designation of the Mahabodhi Temple Complex as the world heritage site, and its cherished significance as a site of the wide ranging quintessence of Buddhist art, sculpture, and images. Similarly, more than 100 temples and monasteries of different countries host the repositories of their own distinct Buddhist arts and sculpture, which enables Bodhgaya as a par excellence historical, cultural and religious site of global significance. It is notable that millions of tourists and pilgrims from India and abroad visit Bodhgaya to have a learned experience of the varied images of the Buddha and the multiple forms of art and sculpture dotted all over Bodhgaya.
We do believe that the impact of this program led by the women and adolescent girls would be significant to achieve gender equality and empowerment ensuring participating women’s effective partnership aimed at challenging the status quo and realising greater access to local opportunities. This impact corresponds to the Sustainable Development Goal 5 .
In the Bodhgaya region, Deshkal Society (http://www.deshkalindia.com/), since 2000, has been working in the thematic areas of homestead land, rural livelihood, and school education thereby ensuring the effectiveness of institutions and mitigating longstanding barriers to ensuring the delivery of rights and sanctions to the disadvantaged communities in general and Musahar community in particular.