Alumni Shivendra Kumar Pandey, working for women empowerment in Uttar Pradesh villages

The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution as it not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women.

In spite of admirable work done by both governmental and non governmental sectors, the disparity in numbers between male and female workforce still remains large. In 2012, only 27 percent of adult Indian women had a job, or were actively looking for one, compared to 79 percent of men. Economic contribution of Indian women is less than half of the global average. This trend is more prominent in rural India due to several social, cultural and educational factors.

Raised in a family which is passionate about social service, Shivendra Kumar Pandey an alumni of Saraswati Sr. Sec Vidya Mandir, Deoria, Uttar Pradesh, grew up in an environment consisting of positive role models. Shivendra says that his childhood inclination towards helping others who are less fortunate than him, was further strengthened by his school. His teachers was responsible for reinforcing his core values and 'sewa bhawna’ further.

Shivendra’s  father was the secretary of ‘ Vivekanand Yuva Mahila Avam Bal Seva Sansthan’ which was later renamed as ‘Swami Vivekanand Sansthan’. This organization was established 31 years ago. Shivendra joined this organisation 6 years ago and presently is the CEO. Like his father he as an avid advocate of women empowerment and development. His aim is to empower women and train them to be economically self sufficient.

His organisation works with underprivileged women & children of villages in Uttar Pradesh. Recently they have tied up with Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and jointly working in 4 districts of Uttar Pradesh. The organisation is engaged towards establishment of Self Help Groups of more than 20 thousand women. Organisation members train the women on cosmetic and carpet manufacturing, as well as educating them on how to market their manufactured goods without Government support.

Along with skill development among village women, Shivendra is working on launching a Personal Hygiene Program under which he plans to set up a Sanitary Napkin factory in Varanasi which will supply napkins, free of cost to government schools in 25 villages.

Shivendara’s personal motto is “barriers in society cannot set us back from bringing a change”. His passion and hard work is responsible for bringing positive changes in the lives of many women, as well as their family members.

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