A strategy has been framed to introduce 'Didi Cafe' in 17 municipal corporation cities in Uttar Pradesh, including Mathura, Firozabad, and Vrindavan in the Agra division. This Didi Cafe will only be maintained by women's self-help groups, which will provide access to low-cost meals, snacks, and other facilities in areas where women are employed through these canteens, reported HS.
The effort is part of the Centre's goal of empowering women who are connected to self-help groups established via the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM). Officials have said that many efforts by women's organisations from Chhattisgarh and other states will be involved in the cause. A pilot experiment is already ongoing in Varanasi, according to a senior member.
The decision to begin the campaign is believed to have been made during a meeting also attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Amrit Abhijat, Principal Secretary of the Urban Development Department.
It was also determined that the 'Didi Cafe' would be run in the municipal corporations of the Agra division in the first phase, the results of which would enable the authorities devise a future strategy. Mathura, Vrindavan, Firozabad, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Jhansi, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Meerut, Aligarh, Moradabad, Saharanpur, and Shahjahanpur may emulate Agra after successful implementation of the project.
Vishal Sharma, Vice Chairman of Hindustani Biradari, commented on the idea, saying, “While building Didi Cafe is a commendable step and will greatly assist in the upliftment of women, only urban women will be able to find work in such a scheme due to its location in cities. A comparable plan for rural women should be implemented by the government.” He further claimed that previous Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had given acid attack survivors land plots in Agra and Lucknow to build cafes and generate jobs for acid attack survivors. The caf?s were a huge success and aided in the rehabilitation of acid attack victims.
