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The Women welfare Committee (WWC) organised a financial literacy session for the ground level workers (horticulture/ housekeeping/ security) of the Institute on February 06, 2023 as one of the events to commemorate International Women's Day. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Pankaj Rai, Senior Manager, India Post Payments Bank, Bhopal. The participants were educated on Prime Minister Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojna, PMSY, IPPB Accidental and life insurance Plan, Ippb Savings account, Direct benefit transfer Schemes, Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme, Ladli Laxmi Yojna, Aayushman Bharat Scheme, Health Insurance Scheme, Awareness on banking fraud, Post Office RD/MIS.



A drawing session was also conducted for the children of the ground level workers aged 12 years and below. Stationary kits were given to the children encouraging them to express themselves more in the form of art.
The participants were also educated on the importance of drinking clean water and were given hot and cold water bottles.

WWC in collaboration with the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is also coming up with a half day workshop on "Mental Health in Academia" which will be conducted by Dr. Arpita Gupta, Assistant Professor, Jindal School of Psychology and Counselling, O.P. Jindal University, Sonipat on 25th March 2022.

To commemorate National Girl Child day, Women Welfare Committee organized online self-composed poetry and poster competitions on the following topics:

• DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality
• My rights - rights I own
• Breaking the Bias
• I am generation equality / Gender equality - My perspective
• Save the girl child
• National Girl Child Day - How I see

Poster Competition	Poetry Competition (Hindi)	Poetry Competition (English)
Rameshwar Mewada (First)	Chitra Asati (First)	Gouri H (First)
Bhavana. M. R (Second)	Khursheed Ahmad Khan (Second)	Bhavana. M.R (Second)
Mrs. Vandana Pakhide (Second)	Subham Saswat Pradhan (Third)	Shobha Elizabeth john (Third)
Sapna Roy (Third)	Katyayni Pandey (Consolation)	S. Debjani Sahoo (Third)
Raj Mishra (Third)		Arshi (Consolation)
Arshi (Consolation)

A hemoglobin & blood testing camp today, for all ground level workers (horticulture, housekeeping, mess, security) of the Institute and domestic help(s) at the VH auditorium on 7th March 2022. The participants were also sensitized about blood donation by a team from BMHRC. The participants (54 in number) were also given medications (calcium, folic acid, deworming) to sustain for a month. There was also an orientation session on menstrual hygiene, by Dr. Amarjeet Manghani wherein she busted several myths and taboos about menstruation, and explained the importance of menstrual health. A packet of sanitary napkins were also given to all the participants. This was followed by a demonstration of the use of Sanitary Napkin Vending Machine, installed at the shopping center (ground floor ladies washroom) to the participants to encourage menstrual health.

On 8th March (WWC) organized a health camp to determine bone density in women. 83 participants attended the camp (29 employees, 28 family members and 26 ground level workers). Dr. Harish Rao, Professor and HOD Orthopaedic in Peoples College of Medical Sciences, Bhopal was also available for consultation in the afternoon, for people diagnosed with osteoporosis/osteopenia.

Dr. Harish Rao also delivered a talk entitled "Osteoporosis - A Silent Killer" in the evening for the entire IISERB fraternity. Dr. Rao is also holding additional charges as Pro-Vice Chancellor and Director, Centre of Scientific and Research Development since 2018 in Peoples College of Medical Sciences, Bhopal.

To commemorate National Girl Child day, Women Welfare Committee unveiled the poster for WWC to the entire community, encouraging women community members to feel free to come up to WWC for any concerns/suggestions/recommendations they might have with relation to the betterment of the woman fraternity of IISER Bhopal in general. The poster was unveiled by the Director Prof. Siva Umapathy. The poster has been designed by Mr. Koushik Medhi, second year BSMS student.
This was followed by an online talk entitled entitled "बेहतर कल/ बालिकाओं का सर्वांगीण विकास" (Better Tomorrow: All-round development of the Girl child) by Smt. Nalini Madhavji, Trustee, Shri Madhavji Sansthan (President of Yugpravartak Madhavswamy Gau Seva Samiti and Sri Vidya Niketan School Committee). In her talk Smt. Madhavji highlighted how Gender discrimination is a major problem that girls face throughout their life. She talked about the plight of a girl child in India where a large section of society does not welcome her in the family as a newborn, reasons ranging from social evils (dowry) to religious concerns (right to give funeral fire).
While she acknowledged the fact that a lot of change has been witnessed in our society, she also said we have a long way to go. She stressed the importance of gender sensitization at all places, starting from our homes and emphasized that true change in society can only be seen when children are imparted values such that they take up a stand against the atrocities and harassment girls have to face. She also talked about the contributions of Arya samaj, Savitri Bai Phule and Sister Nivedita in women education and empowerment.

To observe Mental Health Day (October 10) & International Day of Girl Child (October 11), an hour-long, online interactive session on “Why investing in mental health is needed now more than ever” was organised by the Women Welfare Committee (WWC) on October 11, 2021. Dr. Bhargavi Davar, a noted mental health activist in India educated the entire community on the importance of pursuing happiness and improving quality of life for mental and emotional health. Dr. Davar is the managing Director, Bapu Trust for Research on Mind & Discourse and Executive Director of Transforming Communities for Inclusion, an international organization. Through her case studies, she talked about the amount of pressure adults put on their children/students and how harmful it can be. She explained why microaggression needs to be addressed and how lack of emotional hubs in households and educational settings can be detrimental. Dr. Davar stressed upon the role of nutrition and physical activity for mental health. She narrated her own traumatic experience of mental asylums during her childhood. She suggested creating listening spots in our society where people can be heard. She emphasized that compassion and self-care need to be taught to stay healthy and accomplish goals. She concluded by saying that there is no happiness pill, it is very important that we enjoy our day to day activities in a guilt free manner, and that whatever be our age, our body can replenish itself provided we allow this to happen.

The Women Welfare Committee (WWC) at IISER Bhopal organized a Women Safety Week (July 12 – 17, 2021) to increase awareness amongst all community members on Woman Safety in general. The first day started with a thought-provoking talk on “Gender Sensitization and Woman Safety” by Mr. Harish Sadani, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA). The talk gave an insight on the existing situation of woman safety and what steps are needed to improve upon the same. Mr. Sadani spoke on the socially constructed characteristics of men and women which ensure a patriarchal, male dominated system, which he reiterated, can be changed consciously with effort. To create a safe society for women, working with women and empowering them are not enough. Apart from a robust, redressal mechanism, what we need are spaces for healthy conversation where people speak about consent and dissent, understand what sexual harassment is, stand up for rights of women on safety and dignity, take simple steps on being an upstander rather than a bystander and say no to degrading comments/sexist jokes.

On the second day of Women Safety Week (WSW) an online Nukkad Natak (due to the pandemic situation) on "Safety concerns of Women" by group “Mayaar” raised awareness on various forms of atrocities against women like domestic violence, eve-teasing, acid-attack and rape. The Nukkad Natak also conveyed important laws related to each issue and how perpetrators of crime can be punished for the same.

On the third day a Nukkad Natak on "Online safety of Women" by group “Hoonkar”. depicted the plight of women being unsafe online. The Nukaad Natak showed the trauma of victims harassed by fake online job offers and asked for undue favors. The Nukkad Natak also threw light on cyber bullying and profile morphing and pointed out how we need more stringent laws on cyber-crime in addition to what already exists. The Nukkad Natak(s) conveyed very subtly that whatever be the situation, a women in distress should always raise her voice against injustice without fearing the outcome or social stigma.

The Nukkad Natak was followed by an informative webinar on the POSH act by Dr. Komal Audichya, HOD, Faculty of Law SRM University, Haryana. in a joint collaboration with Women Cell.

On the fourth day an intensive online session on “Some safety techniques every woman should know” by Mr. Ajay Mehr, Taekwondo and Karate coach WWC educated community members on how a woman should respond during an unpleasant situation and save herself. Mr. Mehr demonstrated various basic yet very important self-defense techniques and counter attacking body movements. He emphasized that every woman should remember the mantra “PHR – Protect, Hit and Run” in any distress situation. How the sensitive points of an attacker’s body can be targeted in self-defense in unpleasant situations like chasing, groping, holding from the back etc. was thoroughly demonstrated in detail. A few competitions namely poster competition, poetry competition, story writing competition and movie making competition on the theme of Women Safety was also organised online, in which the entire community participated and the results of the same were announced on the fifth day. To view the works of the winners click below.

Poster Competition	Poetry Competition (Hindi)	Poetry Competition (English)
Koushik_Medhi (First)	Bharat Bhushan Deshmukh (First)	Rita Abani (First)
Jyoti Agrawal (Second)	Shalini Gupta (Second)	Aayush Anand (Second)
Bhavana M R (Third)	Shikha Agarwal (Third)	Khushbu Syed (Third)
Anju Babu (Consolation)	Raghaw Prakash Sen (Consolation)	Bhavana M R (Consolation)
Vidit Bhattacharya (Consolation)	Neeraj Kumar Dubey (Consolation)	Neha Patil (Consolation)
Vishwanaathan B L (Consolation)	Chitra Asati (Consolation)	Bhavya Anil (Consolation)
	Aryan Pandey (Consolation)




Story Writing
Bincy M N (First)	Shreeja Das (Second)	Shikha Agrawal (Third)
Akhil K K (Consolation)	Bhavana M R (Consolation)	Jyoti Agrawal (Consolation)

To commemorate International Women's Day, the Women Welfare Committee at IISER Bhopal organized a session for early detection of breast cancer on March 08, 2021. Dr. Amarjeet Manghani, the Institute empanelled gynecologist conducted the session. There was a powerpoint presentation which educated the participants regarding the early detection of breast cancer, mainly emphasizing on the importance of self-examination. Dr. Manghani spoke about the non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors, signs and symptoms, breast cancer diagnosis emphasizing that the best protection is early detection. Participants of the session were taught techniques of self examination for early detection of breast cancer. The session aimed at spreading the benefit of early screening among women, which will help in early detection of breast cancer and reduce related morbidity and mortality.

A financial literacy session was conducted on March 08, 2021 for the ground level workers of the Institute (horticulturists, security and housekeeping) wherein they were educated and oriented about the social welfare schemes they are eligible for. Mr. Pankaj Rai, Senior Manager, India Post Payments Bank conducted the session. The participants were educated about the importance of social security schemes for future unforeseen events. Importance of having insurances and a nominee were explained to them. Details pertaining to PM Jan Dhan Yojna, PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojna, PM Jeevan Suraksha Yojna, Aayushmaan Bharat Yojna, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna, Atal Pension Yojna, National Pension Scheme, PPF, PM Shram Yogi Maan Dhan Yojna, MUDRA, Standup India Scheme, MGNREGA were given to them.

A motivational talk was organized for the entire community on March 06, 2021. Dr. Kanchan Gaba (CEO and Managing Director, Oriole Management Pvt. Ltd) delivered an online talk via Zoom on "Women Empowerment – Dive in Within and Beyond". In her talk Dr. Gaba mentioned the importance of equal participation of women in society, economy and politics failing which complete human inclusive growth is not possible. She emphasized on the importance of and motivated everyone to set bigger goals in life and educated the audience of holistic ways to achieve it. In her talk she emphasized on the importance setting big goals, reprogram the subconscious (by visualizing the achievement of the goal), practice self love, gratitude and try to achieve the set goal(s) with perseverance and strength. Dr. Gaba is a lawyer/legal consultant by profession who has dedicated her life to uplift the underprivileged sections of the society. Despite being visually impaired, her selfless work and sheer determination has made her the recipient of the President's award twice. Her works on women empowerment have made many women become self-reliant and sole earning members of their family.

World Cancer Day" is an international day marked on February 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. WWC organized a talk on "Cancer - A Lifestyle disease" wherein Dr. Atul Samaiya,, Sr. Consultant Surgical Oncology and Head, Oncology Services, Bansal Hospital delivered an engaging and informative talk on "Cancer - A lifestyle disease" for all community members. He informed the community members about the growing risk of cancer, its incidence rate, causes and symptoms. He also explained how cancer can be detected/ diagnosed early through warning signs and risk factors. Dr. Samaiya also covered uterus and breast cancer briefly in his talk. He emphasized on the healthy life choices for cancer prevention and types of treatments & screenings available for this disease. Participants were also educated with breast self-examination technique. The entire IISERB community benefited from the talk. To view the video Click here