March is that special time of year where the immeasurable impact women have made on society is commemorated. From the writers of romance, to the ladies who live out their dream jobs every day, the celebrities we admire, change-makers. Women’s Month gives us abundant chance to lift them all up.
International Women’s Day has been celebrated for over a century now. But while many people think of it as a feminist cause, its roots lie in the labour movement. It was first organised in 1911 by the early 20th century Marxist from Germany, Clara Zetkin. Celebrated on March 8 every year, this day is symbolic of the historic journey women around the world have taken to better their lives. It comes as a reminder that while a lot has been achieved, the journey is long and a lot more needs to be done.
In the past few decades, the role of women in our society has changed drastically. Women have been playing an important role in different fields. Women can be seen as pilots, educationists, customer services head, company executives, admin heads, bankers, HR, and in the telecom and energy sector. Women are making a tremendous contribution in each division and men are no longer considered as the only bread earner of the house.
The good thing is that there are organisations and corporations who are coming up with women-oriented programmes in order to uplift them; ‘Roshni Baji’ is one such initiative, recently put forward by KE (Karachi Electric). The objective of the ‘Roshni Baji Women Ambassador Programme’ is to engage and sensitise over 100,000 women and by extension their family members about the basic principles of general safety, electrical safety, rain safety, hazards of power theft and energy conservation.
As per the project details, K-Electric claims it is the first of its kind door-to-door safety awareness drive spearheaded by safety ambassadors from the communities – for the same communities they live in. The plan at the first stage is to deploy 40 ambassadors in the fields of Korangi, Malir, Lyari and Surjani who have been selected under the ‘Sarbulandi’ project of KE. Each of these areas will have 10 women ambassadors to perform the tasks cited above.
The spokesman of the organisation shares that the plan is to reach out to 20-30 households on a daily basis providing awareness on safety related to kunda threats, electricity infrastructure, kitchen safety, rain safety etc. The ambassadors will also be trained to guide the consumers regarding billing basics, billing modes, current schemes and rebate offers. The programme will reach out to consumers who are not comfortable in contacting customer care centres for any reason.
The spokesman explains that the ambassadors will not be collecting any sort of cash, new connection forms nor doing any billing instalments. They will only refer the consumers, through a referral slip, to the Integrated Business Centers (IBCs). He adds, the target is to reach out to 24,000 households which translate into 120,000 individuals (keeping an average family size to 5).
“We want to find out high achievers and eventually train them as certified female electricians which may become a trained pool for KE or they can work on their own as electricians in their areas as entrepreneurs. The impact that this programme aims to create will be; mass safety awareness and an empowered female workforce that will have a multiplier effect on their respective communities,” the spokesman affixed.
Employed by KE, Mahnoor is one of the several Roshni Bajis or women ambassadors engaged in the project which was badly needed. Mahnoor is a confident and committed lady. Under the Roshni Baji project, she visits local households and creates awareness among the masses about safety and security in an environment where people are lackadaisical. There are many households in these localities covered under the company’s ‘Sarbulandi’ programme where electricity wires can be seen almost touching the rooftops or naked wires in reach of children. Furthermore, in some of these areas encroachments have made people vulnerable to electrocution because the distance between residential structures and electric installations has reduced drastically or electricity poles are now placed inside premises.
According to Mahnoor, the feedback has been good and the people have been responsive. “They do now understand how important their safety and lives are and how they can secure themselves by taking certain safety measures. The safety tips are also about the use of household gadgets, handling short-circuiting, dousing fire, taking precaution that clothes do not come in contact with stove fire, keeping switch boards out of reach of children, etc.,” she notifies.
“There have been many deaths in Karachi due to electrocutions during rains in which carelessness of people was also termed a reason by the organisation. These deaths were also a reason as to why this comprehensive consumer safety programme has been launched. Short-circuiting is another menace that needs to be tackled on right away. Every other fire at shopping centres, malls, shops, households etc. are attributed to short-circuiting but unfortunately the required precautions are rarely taken. The fact that the Roshni Baji project emphasises on this aspect is a timely measure,” elucidates Farzana, another Roshni baji.
While Roshni Bajis have been performing their task with the above mentioned targets in mind, there are beneficiaries who welcome them and listen carefully to what they say. “Roshni Baji, who visited us, told us basic things that we should have known before but were not guided by anyone before. She taught me how to stop my children from touching electricity poles especially during rains, tying animals to said poles and refilling or cleaning a generator. I was also warned that that there should be no naked wire in the kitchen and in case of fire we must use mud instead of water and cover the fire. We did not know this earlier,” expresses Asma, a simple housewife. “I also got to know that certain types of clothes are highly inflammable so it is imperative for women not to let them come in contact with kitchen fire. The risks faced by children flying kites and using metal wires on rooftops with high tension wires passing from above were also highlighted,” she adds.
Tauseef Farooqi, Chairman, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) lauds the initiative and says safety is everyone’s responsibility. He adds that including women as change agents will certainly increase the safety consciousness amongst not only the existing community members but also future generations. “I am pleased to see that KE has not only taken the lead in inculcating ownership about personal and public safety, but have also achieved this through the economic boost of women. Both of these are NEPRA’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework priorities and while I look forward to seeing the positive impact of this programme, I also urge other utilities to explore how they too can pursue such social investment initiatives,” stresses Farooqi.
Monis Alvi, CEO, K Electric explains that Roshni Baji initiative is an attempt to introduce and explain different programmes of the organisation in different target areas and create awareness among masses about issues such as security, safety, protection from installations, need to avoid precarious construction that may come in contact with electric wires, hazards of power theft etc.
“This programme is basically a neighbourhood women ambassadors’ programme where women from the community are employed as Roshni Bajis so that they can interact with the locals in a far better way. It is very encouraging that these women are earning livelihood in a noble way and spending more on their family’s education and health. The locals listen to them with keen interest and also follow their advice because they are familiar with each other,” elaborates Alvi.
Alvi shares it is their prime goal to increase women staff in the organisation and it is an encouraging fact that their numbers have increased significantly over the years. “The recruitment of Roshni Bajis is also a step in this direction. At the moment, women are mostly employed in offices and the next stride is to increase their number in field,” informs Alvi.
He states that women empowerment and women inclusion is a prime goal and it has taken practical steps which are visible. The company has more than 400 females, who continue to perform diligently on technical, financial, managerial and other positions while many have shown their talents to lead the company from the front and are valiantly holding leadership positions.
“We believe that our role extends beyond mere power provision and we have strived to engage and uplift the communities that we operate in through social investment programmes including ‘Sarbulandi’ and ‘Ujala’. At the same time, we are also strongly committed to women’s inclusion and economic empowerment, knowing that this is the sustainable route to achieve societal progress. Our women meter-readers are proof of this and we build on these two concepts additionally through the ‘Roshni Baji programme’. Women meter-readers have been introduced in Lyari. Through the inclusion of women meter-readers, the company has set a benchmark in gender diversity in this particular field.
“Not only will each Roshni Baji function as a female community influencer and educate the communities they hail from, but they will also create a virtuous cycle of opportunities for their own families,” concludes Alvi.