Green Army: Here's How This Entrepreneur Is Impacting Lives Of Many Rural Women

Neeti Goel, daughter of the renowned industrialist late Mr SK Gupta, is known for having created an impact through her many entrepreneurial and philanthropic activities. Her ideas have been spread across multiple spaces, and one such initiative is the Green Army.

It was launched to work with rural women at the grassroots level and transform their lives by equipping them with provisions and creating opportunities for them. The project has now completed seven successful years with the presence of green armies seen in over 250 villages. From building awareness about their basic rights to enabling them a space to be self-reliant, the initiative continues to actively work to create a better tomorrow for rural Indian women.

The Green Army

In the pilot phase, Neeti's team began the work at Khushiyari village in the Varanasi district. The village was equipped with little to no amenities and lacked even toilets for the villager's use. This was at a time when the Swachh Bharat campaign was gaining prominence across the nation and yet had failed to penetrate within the interior villages of many states.

Having seen and identified the root cause of the many sufferings of the rural population, the team under Neeti started working to find an effective solution to these concerns. Their focus areas of work were drug abuse, domestic violence and illiteracy. In the majority of these issues, women tend to be the first sufferers by default.

Creating green groups of around 25 women, the project provided rigorous training on how to handle domestic violence and drug abuse cases. The women were made aware of the many provisions that are constitutionally available to them and helped them see the benefits it holds for them in terms of self-defence and protection.

Within a span of seven years, they have formed Green Armies in over 250 villages with about 1,800 women. These groups of women would be addressing concerns in regard to agricultural productivity, drug abuse, lack of access to education among children, and domestic violence, which in most cases originates from substance abuse in households.

Furthermore, each and every child of the women who were once the victims of domestic violence were enrolled in the village schools and availed of the due benefits from the Gram Pradhan. Around 250 girls were given cycles as well so that they could attend schools that were located farther away from their village.

Starting their journey with baby steps, they are now gradually expanding to cover a larger area under the project and are entering phase two of the project. Under this phase, they would be providing employment opportunities to the women to make them self-sufficient. As a part of the same, sewing centres and thelas through which fruits and vegetables can be sold were set up. They are further ideating on training these women in diya, sandal, and other forms of handiwork that can generate a stable income.

In efforts to take the green army project proactively ahead, Neeti Goel has now collaborated with Nidarshana Gowani's Ankibai Ghamandiram Gowani Trust and Hope Welfare Trust.

'It's Called The Green Army'

We have an army of 1800 women spread over 250 villages in Uttar Pradesh after working tirelessly for seven long years. We are now working in phase 2 of the project where we are providing employment to these women to make them swamybhus - self-sufficient," Neeti said.

Furthermore, she added, "We set up sewing centres for them to generate livelihood for them. Gave women widowed in pandemic thelas so they could sell fruits/vegetables etc., on them and generate livelihood. Now we are training them in other things like Diya making, making chappals etc., to generate income for them while we also keep expanding the green army to the other rural villages of Uttar Pradesh."

An Extension Of The Many Efforts From Neeti Goel

Neeti Goel is someone who has worn multiple hats in an attempt to help many people. She is a successful restaurateur with two of her restaurants listed among the Top 50 in the world and is the co-founder of Khaanachaiye and Ghar Bhejo initiatives that grew during the pandemic.

Both the initiatives evolved out of humanitarian emotions to help out the many migrants and disadvantaged people during the tough times. Under the Ghar Bhejo initiative, she was able to transport over 2 Lakh migrant workers to their homes, and the Khaanachaiye program made it possible to provide over 80 lakh meals to people.

She has always been known for her involvement in social activism and continues to tirelessly commit herself to many philanthropic activities. As a result, she was recognised as the Best Humanitarian & Service Trendsetter in 2022 by the honourable Governor of Maharashtra.

Also Read: This Bengaluru-Based Organisation Helps Thousands Of Rural Women Artisans Become Self-Sustainable In COVID Times