The workshop was jointly organized by the MSK Unit of the college in collaboration with IQAC, Debates and Seminar Committee (D&SC), NSS Unit of the college and District Hub for Employment of Women (DHEW), Kupwara.
The objective of the workshop was to raise awareness among the women with respect to their sense of self-worth, their right to have both access to opportunities and resources and power to control their own lives, both within and outside the home.
The Patron of the event was Dr Shamim Ahmad Dar, Principal, GDC Sogam. The conveners were Prof. Mehbooba Bano (Associate Professor, Political Science; Member, MSK) and Prof. Ishfaq Hussain Bhat (AP, English; Member, MSK), while Prof Farooq Ahmad Shah (Sr. AP, Education; Member, MSK) and Mr Tariq Ahmad Bhat (Faculty Member, Computer Applications; Member, MSK) served as the coordinators.
The Rapporteur of the workshop was Dr Tauseef Ahmad Parray (AP, Islamic Studies; Convener, Media Cell).
The inaugural session of the workshop was moderated by Prof. Shah, who also threw light on the objectives of the workshop. This was followed by ‘Welcome Speech’ by the patron of the event, Dr Shamim Ahmad Dar, in which he welcomed all the guests, resource persons and trainers, MSK Block Level Committee members from the host college, and the MSK volunteers.
Contextualizing the relevance and significance of the workshop, he emphasized that disseminating awareness about various women-centric schemes of the government and to make women self-reliant is the need of the hour.
He also emphasized the importance of a woman’s role in shaping and enlightening a society as well as appreciated the efforts of DHEW for such women-empowering and self-reliance initiatives.
Thereafter, different trainers imparted skill-based training in Knitting, Cutting Tailoring (Fashion Designing), Embroidery (Tilla work), Mehandi Designing, Painting, etc. to the students/ MSK volunteers.
Moreover, special training sessions were conducted on self-defense and martial arts by Peer Aadil Manzoor (Self- Defense Trainer), Zakir Husain (Athlete/ Trainer) and Ms Nayeema Kamal and Kulsooma Nisar (6th semester students of the college). Skill-based training on day 2 and 3 of the workshop was imparted by the local female artisans and students: Hafeeza Begum (a local artisan), Shabeena Bashir, Sehrish Lone and Tabssum Jan in knitting; Ruqiya Mushtaq, Nahida Bashir, Muskaan Mohi-ud-din, Arizoo Nazir and Saima Mushtaq in Mehandi designing; Rukhsana Wani (a local fashion designer) and Nuzhat-un-Nabi in cutting and tailoring; Muskan Rashid, Wajida Tabasum, Ruqiya Aziz, Shahiba Parveen and Hadiya Aziz in painting; and Shameema Bano and Fahmeeda Bano (both local embroidery artisans) in embroidery.
Moreover, on the second day of the workshop, Ms Khalida Yasin (District Mission Coordinator, DHEW) and Ms Safoora Sultan (Gender Specialist, MSK) sensitized the students about the importance of conducting such workshops and provided information about various women-centric government schemes, respectively. Ms Khalida, in particular, held interactive sessions with the MSK volunteers highlighting therein the importance of enlightening and empowering women in a society governed by men.
“Women are capable of doing wonders but they are not being given a chance to excel”, she said.
The training sessions on all these skills continued on third day of the workshop as well and was followed by a Valedictory Session (jointly moderated by Prof. Ishfaq Hussain Bhat and Prof. Sajad Ahmad).
In the valedictory session, Prof. Mehbooba Bano presented the detailed report of the 3-day Workshop and the activities/ training sessions carried under this scheme.
“Empowering women will be a life-changing opportunity for a better future”, she stressed. In his Presidential Remarks, the worthy Principal showed his contentment in achieving the objectives of the workshop successfully.
Skill courses, having more scope at the local level, will be introduced in the college, he assured.
The event concluded with the distribution of Certificates of Appreciation and Medals among the Trainers/ Resource Persons and Organizers.
The event was attended by over 100 students, and the staff members of the college.