Club Mahindra’s Project Saksham Empowers Women
Club Mahindra, the flagship brand of Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited, has been promoting entrepreneurship among women with their Project Saksham, which aims to help women earn a livelihood. Club Mahindra has social upliftment built into its very ethos, and in addition to empowering women, this project will be tackling the problem of low female labour force participation, while also aiding them in getting an additional source of income. It has been observed that while women may have skills and the drive to pursue their own ventures, they lack the necessary tools and resources to do so, and that is the very problem this project will be tackling.
Project Saksham begins with the identification of beneficiaries, who will be shortlisted in order of priority. Those who possess necessary skills but lack the means to kickstart their venture, as well as those most in need of support will be at the top of this list. A total of 144 women will be shortlisted and provided material and equipment worth Rs. 15,000 each.
After interacting with these women to understand the nature of their businesses and the materials needed, the team will gauge their requirements and provide the same. Post this, the beneficiaries will be followed up with for a course of three months, so the consultation team can help iron out any difficulties they may face, and also to assess the impact of the aid provided.
This project, one of many very dear to Club Mahindra, will achieve two main goals, getting women entrepreneurs to restart their businesses which were closed due to the pandemic, and increasing their average monthly income. Implemented by United Way of Mumbai, this project is expected to increase the average monthly income of each beneficiary by Rs. 5000.
Project Saksham is in alignment with two of the United Nations’ very crucial Sustainable Development Goals, SDG 8, which aims at Promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full productive employment and decent work for all, as well as SDG 4, which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
