Watch: How Yangli transformed women’s lives in Assam’s Morigaon

Morigaon: The central and state governments periodically announce several schemes meant to uplift the poorest and the most vulnerable. However, most schemes tend to get lost amid red tape and lack of information among the potential beneficiaries. But that is not the case in Morigaon district of Assam, about 100 km from Guwahati. In June 2019, the women from this district decided to start an organisation calle ‘Yangli, which means goddess ‘Lakshmi’ in Tiwa language, with the sole aim of supporting the indigenous women farmers of the districts and neighbouring areas. 

“Women are the backbone of the family and bedrock of the nation. Empowering women means empowering a family as well as a nation,” Janmoni Mahanta, President of Yangli foundation, says while talking to EastMojo. 

Mahanta says they got the idea in 2019 when officials of the Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi (RGVN) informed them of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of doubling farmers’ income by 2022-2023.