Women play a key role in water management. Rural women in Rajasthan are most impacted when there is water shortage especially potable water. On June 27th, 2005, the Centre for Women Studies at BITS, Pilani installed Purioin water filters amongst cluster of households in Raila village in Rajasthan wherein women have been trained to procure potable water through the advanced technology of Purioin filters which has been patented by CSIR/NCL. The filters have been provided by Department of Science & Society, DST, New Delhi. The unique feature of the filter comprises of Ultra Filtration Membrane technology, hundred percent removal of bacteria and virus, sparkling crystal clear water and no use of electricity. The Centre has ensured that apart from women from higher social group, dalit women in Raila village have access to this technology. The filter has also been installed in a household in Raila village where water harvesting has been undertaken by RANA project of the Institute. Integration of availability of water through water harvesting and access to potable water through the technology based filter would help women and their families in adequate water management.

• Follow up on Purioin Water Filters in Raila village, Pilani, Rajasthan:

As a follow-up on the water filters installed by CWS, BITS, Pilani in Raila village (sponsored by DST, New Delhi) the Centre’s team member Dr. S. Nadeem  Fatmi visited Raila village on 11th Nov. 2005. The objective was to spearhead the initiatives for safe water education and implementation of purification techniques and to promote safe drinking water. He had an interactive session with the rural women and made them   understand that safe water for all could only be assured when access, sustainability, and equity could be guaranteed. He stressed the need of an effort to sustain it, and the fair and equal distribution of water to all segments of the society. He candidly discussed the potential health effects of contaminants and conveyed as much information as possible about health hazards due to use of impure drinking water. He also conducted an unstructured interview with the women of 20 households of the village for getting the feedback on the functioning of water filters.  
The role of women in helping ensure pure water and good health was also stressed. Women of different households were convinced that their participation was imperative. Without exception, they are the dominant communicators and caregivers in all cultures.
Self Help Group comprising 10 women of the village was formed mainly to organize them in a collective endeavor. These women were made to realize that SHG could play a vital role in their over all development Women in this village have enthusiastically enrolled themselves in the SHG.
The womens’ group and individual women are motivating the members of their families to use the filtered water.

• Follow up on SHG in Raila village, Pilani, 26th November, 2005

Dr. Nadeem Fatmi from CWS, BITS, Pilani visited Raila village on 26th Nov.2005 to assist and monitor the functioning of SHG which has been formed for the smooth functioning of the water management project. The objective is to help women ensure use of pure water and to create awareness of health hazards due to use of impure water.
He encouraged the members of SHG for the good work they are doing in mobilizing and persuading their counterparts to use the filtered water for drinking. He interacted with women of 10 households and answered their general queries regarding health benefits of using filtered drinking water.  These women told that incidence of diarrhea have been greatly reduced since they have started using filtered water for dinking purposes and children are becoming healthier. Their appetite has increased and skin irritation has also reduced. The members of SHG invite women to meet on a regular basis to discuss how best to utilize their leisure time which they  are now getting as they do not have to fetch pots of potable water from distance. They have been discussing about income generating activities and ways to improve their lives.
As for the non-compliant houses, the women are in complete disarray; and therefore, they believe it to be no good. These houses have been scheduled for revisits for further counseling.
Dr. Nadeem Fatmi from CWS, BITS, Pilani visited Raila village on 14th January 2006 to monitor the SHG working for water management. Some of the women complained of the inaccessibility of filtered water because of inter and intra caste and family conflict. They also complained about the possession of filters by some of the households. Dr. Fatmi counseled these women and households and made them to understand that the filters are not installed for specific households and castes rather all have equal right to use the potable water. These women are regularly counseled on this issue. A log book of volume of water used per day is maintained.

Workshop on Indigenous Design, Preparation and Demonstration for Sanitary Napkins

Indigenous Design, Preparation and Demonstration for Sanitary Napkins : The Centre conducted a training workshop on August 9, 2005 for adolescent girls and school teachers in Jherli village regarding personal hygiene products. Women in villages use recycled cloth during their menstrual cycles. Studies reveal that this practice is associated with very high risk of cervical cancer. There are chances that 98 out of 100 people will develop this type of cancer, and if uncontrolled, spread of cancer to other parts of the body. Ignorance and/ or lack of finances are two main reasons why the villagers opt for this mode for tackling those 4-5 days. When they use cloth, other problems that they face include continuous wet feeling, shifting of the cloth and leakage of the same.
To address this problem, adhesive, leak-proof, disposable and more importantly cost-effective sanitary napkins employing pre-sterilized raw materials, were designed in-house by one our team members, Ms. Archna Roy, Faculty, Pharmacy Group, BITS, Pilani. Our team went with a few samples of these designed napkins and raw materials to Rajkanya Middle School, Jherli, where we had about 20 female teachers and 100 girl students (from 8th, 9th, and 10th standards) gathered to learn the art/ science of making these cost-effective napkins. Girls from 9th and 10th standards were called from Government High School, Jherli, for this specific training.
Firstly, these 120 females were made aware of the risks that they face due to the prevalent trend of recycling home-made napkins and then Ms. Archna Roy made a couple of sanitary napkins in front of them to make them aware of the exact procedure to be followed and precautions to be taken to prevent contamination during making of these sanitary napkins. Some of the girls were asked to assist her so that they get first-hand experience.
The teachers and students were interested to make these cost-effective napkins and perhaps market the same to meet the local demand. To initiate this, we  left the raw materials for about 75 napkins with the principal of the school. Under the guidance of the teachers, the students were asked to follow the exact procedure/ measurements/ precautions and make all the sanitary napkins within 20 days. On 29th august, 2005, we  revisited the school and saw for ourselves how efficiently, they had been able to make those napkins.  Team members included Ms. Archna Roy & Prof. Nirupama Prakash. The Center has been counseling the girls to use the indigenously designed sanitary napkins.

Fitness Awareness Lecture

Centre for women studies (CWS-BITS) at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani organized a fitness awareness lecture by Dr. Anjana Saxena, Senior Chief Medical Officer, CGHS, New Delhi, Ministry of Health, Government of India on August 20th, 2005. She spoke on health care for women with an emphasis on good diet and stress Management for prevention of age-related disorders. The speaker gave very detailed tips on dietary habits that can provide required macro- and micronutrients. The lecture was attended by nearly 80 families from the campus including students. The lecture was followed by a free health screening and more than 70 attendees, mostly women and girls availed the services. The participants were screened for random blood glucose levels, hemoglobin and lipid profile (wherever necessary). As a measure of obesity, the BMI calculation was done for all participants based on their height and weight and the ratio of their hip and waist circumference. The screening for hypertension included measurement of blood pressure by two different methods. The session ended with a cup of tea and an interactive chat with the speaker.
The event was facilitated by Prof. Suman Kapur and Ms Archna Roy. The two medical consultants at this event were Dr. R. P. Pareek and Dr. Sanjana Bhat. The CWS-BITS team comprising of Dr. Sangeeta Sharma , Dr. Motilal Dash, Dr. Surya K. Maharana actively helped with Prof. Nirupama Prakash co-ordinating the whole event. Prof. Suman Kapur and her laboratory colleagues conducted the measurements of all the blood parameters in the genomics laboratory in Biological Sciences Division and all calculations for BMI, etc have been done by the team in the genomics laboratory.

Health-Screening Programme in Jherli village on September 19, 2005

It has been found that the girls and women in the villages are largely unaware about issues related to health, hygiene and the nutritional content of diet. As a result most of them suffer from anemia and many related health problems.
As a part of activity of Center for Women’s Studies, the team visited Rajkanya Middle Girl’s School in Jherli village on Monday, 19th September 2005 to conduct a health-screening programme  for school girls.
The team conducted an interactive session with the girls aged between 10-14 years and female teachers of the school. The stress was on health issues though sociological concerns and circumstances were also tied in.
Prof. Suman Kapur and Dr. R.P. Pareek provided the basic information about health care, maintenance of hygiene, diseases and deficits caused by anemia in the human body and broad symptoms of reduced hemoglobin. The relative importance of blood groups was also discussed and a detailed discussion on dietary habits ensued. Height  and weight of all the students was measured as an index of growth. BMI  were calculated for all.
Blood samples of 43 girls of the school were taken to test the Percent hemoglobin to ascertain anemia in particular. The team also took the demographic details of all the 43 girls to understand their social background and their nutritional status. Follow-up will be done on a monthly basis. The team comprising of Prof. Suman Kapur and her laboratory colleagues, Dr. R.P. Pareek, Dr. Sangeeta Sharma, Ms.Archana Roy, Dr. S.N. Fatmi actively helped with Prof. Nirupama Prakash coordinating the whole event.

Accessibility to Primary Healthcare for Villages around Pilani – A Telemedicine based Solution for Rural Women
 
The UGC Center for Women Studies, BITS, Pilani has initiated an activity on Accessibility to Primary Healthcare for Villages around Pilani – A Telemedicine based Solution for Rural Women during 2007.

Technology plays a prominent role in development initiatives. The advances and convergence of IT and telecommunication can bring the entire health care services to the patient’s doorstep. Telemedicine is delivery of health care information across distances using telecom technology. Despite the large health infrastructure set up by the government to serve the rural population, healthcare does not reach all the villages. Villagers end up traveling long distances to access medical facilities. It may be noted that generally 90 per cent of the patients do not require surgery and if so the doctor generally need not touch the patient and in that case both need not to be at the same place. They can be at different locations and still the patient can be treated.

Pilani is a town surrounded by many small villages. Road connectivity in the rural areas is poor and vehicles are not easily available. Women mostly work and stay in the same village and seldom go to the town. It is difficult for them to get Primary Health Care in the village itself. Traveling to Pilani is not always easy and is also costly as well as time consuming.

Objectives

• To provide basic health check-up and monitoring in the village itself with  help of Information and Communication Technology
• To improve accessibility of health care and utilization of available primary Health Care for infants, children, women and elderly
• To provide low cost health care to the villages
• To improve immunization levels of children and pregnant women
• To educate young mothers regarding diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, hygiene, general cleanliness

Telemedicine Centre established by the UGC Centre for Women Studies, BITS-Pilani at Sewa Bharti, Pilani was inaugurated by Prof. L. K. Maheshwari, Vice Chancellor, BITS-Pilani on 15th August, 2007 with the above mentioned objectives:

Prof. Niruprama  Prakash, Chief, Women Studies & Societal Development Unit, informed that the Computer, Software & the peripheral equipments have been provided by the UGC Centre for Women Studies, BITS, Pilani.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. R. P. Pareek said that the Centre is only of its kind in Rajasthan in terms of telemedicine facilities being provided. Highlighting technical details of the Telemedicine Centre, Dr. Pareek said that the doctor sitting at BITS, Pilani Medical Centre can directly communicate with the patient at the other end through internet. Using the telemedicine kit, the patients can get their blood pressure, pulse rate, condition of the lungs and ECG measured and then examined live by the doctor sitting at the other end. He said that this can easily be performed at the patient’s end under the supervision of a trained technician or a nurse.

After the inauguration, Dr. Pareek demonstrated the working of the telemedicine kit to Prof. L. K. Maheshwari and others present. For this, a patient was examined by him and all the parameters were recorded by the telemedicine kit. An ECG was also recorded by a trained technician and all the reports were immediately sent through internet to Dr. Ashok Chaturvedi at BITS Medical Centre. Dr. Chaturvedi analyzed the patient’s report and gave his consultation to the patient live through teleconferencing. He also talked to the persons present in the room and gave some vital information regarding management of Diarrhea. The center will be using this method for health education for women, children and other patients.

Prof. Maheshwari appreciated the initiative and congratulated Dr. R. P. Pareek and Prof. Nirupama Prakash for a successful launching of the Telemedicine Centre which would provide low cost health care to the villages.

On this occasion, Shri K. S. Sharma, Coordinator, Sewa Bharti welcomed everybody and said that the Centre would improve the immunization levels of children and pregnant women in Pilani and surrounding villages.

The Deputy Directors of BITS, Pilani Prof. K. E. Raman and Prof. G. Raghurama congratulated team members of CWS for its achievement and said that the Center would go a long way in educating young mothers regarding diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, hygiene and general cleanliness. Most of the Deans and Unit Chiefs of BITS-Pilani, Scientists from CEERI, Pilani and eminent local citizens were present during the occasion. Unit members of WSSDU, Dr. S N Fatmi & Dr. S K Maharana actively helped in organizing the event. Prof. Nirupama Prakash thanked all persons for their co-operation and announced that Dr. R. P. Pareek, Medical Superintendent, Medical Centre, BITS-Pilani would be in charge of the Telemedicine Centre.

Since the establishment of the Telemedicine Centre, a time schedule has been planned. It has been designed to suit the patients, the doctor and also the person dealing at the consultation centre. Presently, patients are seen by both, on-line and store & forward techniques of tele-medicine. The patients, seen by the doctor himself on Sundays, have been asked to report on Wednesday evenings in case of any queries regarding the ongoing treatment.

New patients are also registered on Wednesdays and their complaints are fed in the computer programme. These patients have an interaction with the doctor and primary data are then recorded by the trained worker. The data and some of the recordings are examined by the doctor and basic medicines are given to them on doctor’s advice.

Sometimes the patients and healthy people also drop in at the Sewa Bharti Kendra for check up on other days of the week. If the trained worker is present at the centre he collects the data and also stores the findings. These are then forwarded to the doctor and he views them at his convenience. The patients are advised to leave their contact numbers/address and if the doctor finds something which requires immediate treatment, they are informed accordingly. Five sessions have been done so far and 22 patients have been given consultations. Out of them 16 were females and 5 males.  ECGs were recorded for two patients. Medicines are provided by Sewa Bharti only after the doctor’s advice.

Center for Women Studies set up a Training Center for Stitching and Tailoring for rural women and girls in the premises of Rajkiya Madhyamik School, Raila near Pilani during  2007.

The objective of setting up the Training Center is to inculcate skills, train rural girls and women in stitching and tailoring and empower them by taking it up as an income generating activity.

The Training Centre organizes classes for duration of three months with each batch consisting of thirty females. From the rural community we have identified a skilled trainer who has been hired to impart training in basics of sewing, stitching and tailoring. This activity is helping rural women in learning new skills which could lead to income generating opportunities. While a nominal fee is charged to make the centre self sufficient, those who cannot afford to pay is given free training.

They can start working from their homes and can substantiate to the household income. The goal is to make this a production Center so that it becomes a Centre of Income Generation for rural women.

Inaugurating the Center, Prof Nirupama Prakash, Coordinator, Center for Women Studies said that CWS aims to empower rural women by providing them support and skill in income generating activities. Training Center for Stitching and Tailoring is just one step in this direction. CWS team members Dr. Nadeem Fatmi, Dr. Suryakant Maharana, Dr. Sangeeta Sharma, Dr. Shamita Goswami and Dr. Archana Roy were also present during the event. The team members encouraged and motivated rural girls and women to learn skills in tailoring and stitching and use it in becoming self reliant.

Children are badly affected by the poor socio-economic conditions of their families. These children are needed to be cared for and educated in a safe, clean and homelike environment. Lack of proper care and recreational activities hamper their growth both mentally and physically. Children learn best when they’re actively engaged. There is a need to involve them in various constructive activities and to motivate them to find out ways to learn that are right for them. They need to have space and the desire to explore new dimensions along with lots of support, love and fun.

Keeping this view in mind, Center for Women Studies at BITS, Pilani set up a Child Care Center attached with office of Aangan Wadi in Raila village near Pilani during 2007.  The objective of the Child Care Center is to provide health care and recreational facilities to children of underprivileged sections of rural communities. The Centre has provided a Television, educational toys and sport items to the Child Care Centre in presence of the village Sarpanch. One Anganwadi worker has been hired to provide basic training to children on hygiene and health.

Inaugurating the Child Care Center, Prof Nirupama Prakash, Coordinator, Center for Women Studies said that children are the backbone of our nation and therefore a proper care is indispensable. CWS team members Dr. Nadeem Fatmi, Dr. Suryakant Maharana and Prof Suman Kapur were also present during the event. The team members spoke about the facilities and utility of the Child Care Center and motivated young boys and girls to make use of its facilities.

There are many women in rural areas who are dejected, divorced and distressed and face lots of difficulties in taking care of their children and living a normal life. These women have to be trained in some income generating activities so that they may be able to earn a living and be self reliant.  

Center for Women Studies at BITS, Pilani initiated a project for distressed rural women in order to make them self reliant by giving them required basic training in income generating activities at Gram Panchayat Bhawan in Jherli village near Pilani during 2007. The objective is to impart training in income generating activities such as weaving, book binding, lamination, tailoring, etc. to distressed rural women in order to make them self reliant. Two female trainers from the local community have been identified. There are three batches, each of 30 distressed rural women. Training is being given to each batch for two months. Raw material was initially provided by CWS. The trainees have prepared some items and after selling them have bought raw material for a sustainable activity.

While launching the project, Prof Nirupama Prakash, Coordinator, Center for Women Studies highlighted the need to support, train and help the distressed women in families of rural communities in order to make them self reliant and lead a normal life. CWS team members Dr. Nadeem Fatmi, Dr. Suryakant Maharana, Dr. Sangeeta Sharma and Dr. Archana Roy were also present on the occasion. The team members interacted with rural distressed women and made them realize the importance of being empowered and self dependant.

Illiteracy rate among rural women is quite high. Lack of Education is the basic reason for their backwardness and low socio- economic status. There is a need to make them aware of the importance of education which would impact their lives positively. Some formal training in education will enable them to read, write and work.

With the objectives to bring educational awareness among rural women and to make rural adult women literate, the Center for Women Studies at BITS, Pilani started Adult Education Program for Rural Women at Rajkiya Madhyamik School in Raila village near Pilani during 2007.

Literacy classes for 20 rural women are being conducted for two hours on all working days for one year. Classes are held for three months for one batch. There are 20 women in each batch. A female teacher from the village community has been hired to teach the rural adult women. A library with necessary books and stationery items has also been set up in the school. Dr. S. N. Fatmi and Dr. S. K. Maharana are monitoring this adult education program.

Large chunk of population in the villages of Pilani depend on agriculture. There is a lack of basic infrastructural facilities of agriculture in the villages. Farmers are trapped in a vicious cycle of debt, crop failure and penury. As agriculture is one aspect of employment and development, there is a need to provide training to farmers on how to become low cost producers and survive without Govt. support.
 
The Center for Women Studies, BITS, Pilani organized Two Days Village Agricultural Fair for female and male farmers in order to promote village trade in the Play Ground of Rajkiya Madhyamik School, Raila near Pilani during 2007. The main objectives of the fair were as follows:

1. Training of female & male Farmers on how to become low cost producers.
2. Capacity Building for Women Agricultural Labourers.
3. Training them in multiple crop production.
4. Bringing awareness about the ways and suitable approaches to enhance the basic infrastructure for agricultural production.
5. Making them realize the employment opportunities in agriculture.
6. Providing information to the farmers about various agricultural schemes.
7. Training them in Livestock Production and Management.
8. Making the Farmers to adopt Drip Irrigation.
9. Training them in gardening.

Circle Officer, Surajgarh; Agriculture Inspector, Surajgarh; VLW, Jherli village and Veterinary Officer, Surajgarh Block imparted training to villagers in their respective fields on the above mentioned themes. Villagers put their cattle and agricultural products on display during the fair. CWS team members Dr. S. Nadeem Fatmi and Dr. S. K. Maharana distributed the awards to three farmers for best quality crops. Two awards were also given for best breed of Livestock production. Basic important agricultural tools and seeds of important crops were also distributed to poor female farmers. The beneficiaries were 50 farmers including 30 female farmers.

The Center for Women Studies organized a street play in Raila Village near Pilani  on 27th of March 2007.

The actors included the following :

1. Mohamed Ahasan
2. Rajan Chugh.
3. Jyothsna Swarup.
4. Kapil.
5. Prabhat Bhadauria.
6. Himanshu Chauhan
7. Manik Sheeri.

Ehsaan has written, acted and tightened the play for this production. Three actors of the above mentioned team were students from BITS, Pilani and rest of them from a professional acting school from Delhi.

Theme of the act

The act comprised of two plays

1. Aawaz
2. Hatja Tau naachn de.

Aawaz focused on women in Indian society. The play was subdivided into separate stories which focused on

1. Female infanticide
2. Girl child Education
3. Early marriage.
4. Women abuse.

The whole play was narrated by the soothradhar played by Rajan chug and the story revolved around mother played by Jyothsna whose girl child is killed in her womb. Then after a long struggle she gives birth to a boy and then a girl. The boy though weak in his academics as compared to the girl scores over her in real life.
Her alcoholic father Dharma played by Ehsaan himself finds doom for himself in the game of poker and submits to a compromise of giving away his 14 year old daughter in marriage. He abuses his wife for her rebellion.
Then the same story repeats again with incidences of miscarriage and saving the girl  from the clutches of the society.

Hatja Tau Naachne is a play that shows Tau as the Shaktiman of the village with his choti choti magar moti baatein.

The play again focuses on issues like

1. AIDS and safe sex.
2. Corruption and political issues.
3. Young men involving in violence.
4. Superstitious beliefs.

Tau is 21st century’s filmy Tau who is intelligent, sarcastic and witty, trying to clean the dirt fro the society,the character was played by Ehsaan himself.

The first scene portrayed young lovers played by Himanshu as Devdas and Prabhat as Paro, indulging in the act of romance with out prior precautions, Tau enters the plot and explained them, as well as the crowd about sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS and its safety measures.

The second scene depicts the Indian political leaders played by Rajan and Prabhat, luring the ignorant village crowd with money, alcohol and women. Tau enters the scene kicks all the leaders out, proclaiming himself as the Tau of the village and gives a piece of advice to the villagers.

The third scene shows how an young lad played by Kapil, indulges in act of violence at an early age instead of going to school and how Tau comes for the students rescue.

The fourth scene has a Dhongi Baba played by Rajan controlling an ill village girl played by Jyothsna, Tau brings his vilayati bhooth played by Kapil who does a jugalbandi with the girl. The Tau drives away the Baba explaining the acts of the con Baba.

The response of the crowd was enthralling through out and especially when Tau played by Ehsaan went among the villagers and involved them in the act. Villagers couldn’t   stop themselves getting involved whenever Tau came out and interacted with them during the play. The crowd included a large number of women, men, girls, boys and old people.

Nearly every actor got a chance to shine.
Actors included
Mohamed Ehsaan as Tau and Dharma, Rajan chug as the soothradhar and Dhongi Baba, Jyothsna Swarup as kamla, Prabhath as Gaon ka neta and Paro, Kapil as Don, Himanshu Chauhan as Devdas and Manik Sheeri as Masterji.
And underneath all the bantering, Ehsaan’s broadly drawn comic characters — from student radicals to self-loathing sophisticates — have points to make to the society.

The event was so multifaceted with so many separate stories it seemed only film or maybe dance could begin to encompass the complexity of that evening.

The Center for Women Studies organized a street play in Raila Village near Pilani  on 27th of March 2007.

The actors included the following :

1. Mohamed Ahasan
2. Rajan Chugh.
3. Jyothsna Swarup.
4. Kapil.
5. Prabhat Bhadauria.
6. Himanshu Chauhan
7. Manik Sheeri.

Ehsaan has written, acted and tightened the play for this production. Three actors of the above mentioned team were students from BITS, Pilani and rest of them from a professional acting school from Delhi.

Theme of the act

The act comprised of two plays

1. Aawaz
2. Hatja Tau naachn de.

Aawaz focused on women in Indian society. The play was subdivided into separate stories which focused on

1. Female infanticide
2. Girl child Education
3. Early marriage.
4. Women abuse.

The whole play was narrated by the soothradhar played by Rajan chug and the story revolved around mother played by Jyothsna whose girl child is killed in her womb. Then after a long struggle she gives birth to a boy and then a girl. The boy though weak in his academics as compared to the girl scores over her in real life.
Her alcoholic father Dharma played by Ehsaan himself finds doom for himself in the game of poker and submits to a compromise of giving away his 14 year old daughter in marriage. He abuses his wife for her rebellion.
Then the same story repeats again with incidences of miscarriage and saving the girl  from the clutches of the society.

Hatja Tau Naachne is a play that shows Tau as the Shaktiman of the village with his choti choti magar moti baatein.

The play again focuses on issues like

1. AIDS and safe sex.
2. Corruption and political issues.
3. Young men involving in violence.
4. Superstitious beliefs.

Tau is 21st century’s filmy Tau who is intelligent, sarcastic and witty, trying to clean the dirt fro the society,the character was played by Ehsaan himself.

The first scene portrayed young lovers played by Himanshu as Devdas and Prabhat as Paro, indulging in the act of romance with out prior precautions, Tau enters the plot and explained them, as well as the crowd about sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS and its safety measures.

The second scene depicts the Indian political leaders played by Rajan and Prabhat, luring the ignorant village crowd with money, alcohol and women. Tau enters the scene kicks all the leaders out, proclaiming himself as the Tau of the village and gives a piece of advice to the villagers.

The third scene shows how an young lad played by Kapil, indulges in act of violence at an early age instead of going to school and how Tau comes for the students rescue.

The fourth scene has a Dhongi Baba played by Rajan controlling an ill village girl played by Jyothsna, Tau brings his vilayati bhooth played by Kapil who does a jugalbandi with the girl. The Tau drives away the Baba explaining the acts of the con Baba.

The response of the crowd was enthralling through out and especially when Tau played by Ehsaan went among the villagers and involved them in the act. Villagers couldn’t   stop themselves getting involved whenever Tau came out and interacted with them during the play. The crowd included a large number of women, men, girls, boys and old people.

Nearly every actor got a chance to shine.
Actors included
Mohamed Ehsaan as Tau and Dharma, Rajan chug as the soothradhar and Dhongi Baba, Jyothsna Swarup as kamla, Prabhath as Gaon ka neta and Paro, Kapil as Don, Himanshu Chauhan as Devdas and Manik Sheeri as Masterji.
And underneath all the bantering, Ehsaan’s broadly drawn comic characters — from student radicals to self-loathing sophisticates — have points to make to the society.

The event was so multifaceted with so many separate stories it seemed only film or maybe dance could begin to encompass the complexity of that evening.

The Center for Women Studies organized a street play in Raila Village near Pilani  on 27th of March 2007.

The actors included the following :

1. Mohamed Ahasan
2. Rajan Chugh.
3. Jyothsna Swarup.
4. Kapil.
5. Prabhat Bhadauria.
6. Himanshu Chauhan
7. Manik Sheeri.

Ehsaan has written, acted and tightened the play for this production. Three actors of the above mentioned team were students from BITS, Pilani and rest of them from a professional acting school from Delhi.

Theme of the act

The act comprised of two plays

1. Aawaz
2. Hatja Tau naachn de.

Aawaz focused on women in Indian society. The play was subdivided into separate stories which focused on

1. Female infanticide
2. Girl child Education
3. Early marriage.
4. Women abuse.

The whole play was narrated by the soothradhar played by Rajan chug and the story revolved around mother played by Jyothsna whose girl child is killed in her womb. Then after a long struggle she gives birth to a boy and then a girl. The boy though weak in his academics as compared to the girl scores over her in real life.
Her alcoholic father Dharma played by Ehsaan himself finds doom for himself in the game of poker and submits to a compromise of giving away his 14 year old daughter in marriage. He abuses his wife for her rebellion.
Then the same story repeats again with incidences of miscarriage and saving the girl  from the clutches of the society.

Hatja Tau Naachne is a play that shows Tau as the Shaktiman of the village with his choti choti magar moti baatein.

The play again focuses on issues like

1. AIDS and safe sex.
2. Corruption and political issues.
3. Young men involving in violence.
4. Superstitious beliefs.

Tau is 21st century’s filmy Tau who is intelligent, sarcastic and witty, trying to clean the dirt fro the society,the character was played by Ehsaan himself.

The first scene portrayed young lovers played by Himanshu as Devdas and Prabhat as Paro, indulging in the act of romance with out prior precautions, Tau enters the plot and explained them, as well as the crowd about sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS and its safety measures.

The second scene depicts the Indian political leaders played by Rajan and Prabhat, luring the ignorant village crowd with money, alcohol and women. Tau enters the scene kicks all the leaders out, proclaiming himself as the Tau of the village and gives a piece of advice to the villagers.

The third scene shows how an young lad played by Kapil, indulges in act of violence at an early age instead of going to school and how Tau comes for the students rescue.

The fourth scene has a Dhongi Baba played by Rajan controlling an ill village girl played by Jyothsna, Tau brings his vilayati bhooth played by Kapil who does a jugalbandi with the girl. The Tau drives away the Baba explaining the acts of the con Baba.

The response of the crowd was enthralling through out and especially when Tau played by Ehsaan went among the villagers and involved them in the act. Villagers couldn’t   stop themselves getting involved whenever Tau came out and interacted with them during the play. The crowd included a large number of women, men, girls, boys and old people.

Nearly every actor got a chance to shine.
Actors included
Mohamed Ehsaan as Tau and Dharma, Rajan chug as the soothradhar and Dhongi Baba, Jyothsna Swarup as kamla, Prabhath as Gaon ka neta and Paro, Kapil as Don, Himanshu Chauhan as Devdas and Manik Sheeri as Masterji.
And underneath all the bantering, Ehsaan’s broadly drawn comic characters — from student radicals to self-loathing sophisticates — have points to make to the society.

The event was so multifaceted with so many separate stories it seemed only film or maybe dance could begin to encompass the complexity of that evening.

Child care in the work place is an important facility for women employees.  The infant care centre at BITS, Pilani campus caters to the need of children of nearly 700 members, including both teaching and non-teaching staff.  Proper care and growth of children is very essential to make them ideal citizen of the future.  BITS Infant Care Centre is run with the help of faculty wives, to meet the needs of the campus community for pre-school education and care of the infants.  The institute helps the Centre by providing the necessary facilities.  Presently the Centre has 101 students, 10 teachers and 4 helping personnel.

The UGC Center for Women Studies, BITS, Pilani upgraded the teaching aids and tools in the infant care centre on campus. The Centre provided the school with educational toys and teaching aids.

The UGC Centre for Women Studies provided an opportunity to the students of BITS, Pilani to demonstrate their creative skills. It organized Clay Modeling and Sketching competition on the theme of Women Empowerment on 2nd September, 2007 at BITS, Pilani. The students came out with innovative ideas in the form of models and sketches depicting the journey towards women empowerment over a period of time. Prizes were given to the best clay model and sketch ; token gifts were also distributed to all the participants.

Early childhood education in India is subject to two extreme but contrary deficiencies. On the one hand, millions of young children in lower income groups, especially rural and girl children never complete primary school. Even among those who do, poorly qualified teachers, very high student-teacher ratios, inadequate teaching materials and out-moded teaching methods result in a low quality of education that often imparts little or no real learning. It is not uncommon for students completing six years of primary schooling in village public schools to lack even rudimentary reading and writing skills.

Primary School at Dhindhua village near Pilani is one such example where there is a lack of basic infrastructural facilities and the school does not have favourable student-classroom and pupil-teacher ratios. Keeping this in mind, team members of Center for Women Studies at BITS, Pilani Dr. Nadeem Fatmi and Dr. Suryakant Maharana visited Primary School at Dhindhua village near Pilani weekly to teach young boys and girls during February – April, 2007.  The objectives were to instill discipline among students, facilitate the effort to achieve universal primary education, to improve the overall quality of primary education and to strengthen their course content.

We use energy everyday at home, at school, at work and even when we're playing. By getting conscious of its use in home and office we can save energy and help in conservation of environment. Otherwise, it will bear serious consequences on our future. For saving energy, just a thought is required. Consumption of less energy can have positive results ecologically, financially and personally. It also increases an individual's awareness of the surrounding environment and the effect that we all have on it. Keeping the importance of saving energy in mind, UGC Centre for Women Studies has started a Drive for saving energy. We slip in cards in chambers which are left with lights or fans on. This move alerted the individuals and made them realize the importance of saving energy. We received positive responses on our this effort.

International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day is marked on the March 8, of every year. It is a major day of global celebration for women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements. This year UGC Centre for Women Studies, BITS, Pilani celebrated 100th anniversary of International Women's Day on March 8, 2011 in LTC Lawns.

Objectives:

• To pay respect and understand the importance of women
• To make the women realize their inner potentials
• To make the women come out of their routine works and to have fun and enjoyment.

In this event 85 women from BITS & CEERI campus participated. Prof. Sangeeta Sharma, Coordinator, UGC Centre for Women Studies welcomed the participants and described the importance of Women’s Day.  Dr. Devika from the Department of Languages, coordinated the events. Lots of games like- Song competition, passing the parcel, whistle competition, Dance competition and Catwalk were organized and prizes were distributed to the winners.