European Union Project To Train Odisha Women In Housing Sector

Bhubaneswar: The European Union has launched a project in four districts of Maharashtra and Odisha to train 3,000 women in masonry, plumbing and electrical fitting. The one-million-euro project aims at sustainable housing through empowering women,

The project is being implemented in Beed and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra and the Dhenkanal and Jajpur districts of Odisha.  It plans to cover two lakh families in three years.

Called Project Nirmanshree, it is implemented with the housing-focussed not-for-profit Habitat for Humanity India. “This is the first-of-its-kind sustainable housing on a large scale in India under which we train women to build sustainable houses,” said Raimund Magis, the chargé d”affaires at the European Union in India, according to a news agency.

“We aim at empowering women by enhancing their technical and entrepreneurial skills, creating women-led enterprises, promoting climate-adaptable and green housing support services at community level,” Magis said.

Though the construction sector is the second-largest employer and women constitute a significant part of the workforce, he said women mostly work as unskilled labourers and face discrimination. The project aims at ending this, he added.

The European Union is investing about 1 million euros in the first phase and will increase the investment depending on the success of the project. “We are already in talks with the Union housing and urban development ministry in this regard,” he said.

Managing Director of Habitat for Humanity India Rajan Samuel said the overall cost of the project is Rs 7.4 crore, of which 90 per cent or 1 million euro, will be funded by the European Union and the rest 10 per cent by his agency.