Leadership Training for Digital Sakhis’ @ SARVAM

Sarvam, Sri Aurobindo Society in association with LTFS, Mumbai has successfully completed 2 years of Digital Sakhi project in many villages of Villupuram District, Tamil Nadu. The third successful year of the Digital Sakhi project started in April 2021.  In this third year, it was decided to give advanced training to all the Digital Sakhis.  These 100 aspiring, enthusiastic Digital Sakhi are the pillars who would take up the the initiative to the next level.

Training for these 100 Digital Sakhis were given completely online because of the lockdown restrictions.  Hence the training was conducted individually on a one-on-one basis. After the government announced some relaxations, all necessary protocols were duly followed and a direct, on campus training on leadership was conducted for the selected 100 Digital Sakhis in the Satyam campus, Poothurai village for three days from 8^th to 10^th July 2021.

The training was provided by various expert trainers from the nearby towns and the experience of attending the training session directly after a long gap was an exciting experience for all the Digital Sakhis.

The training was conducted in such a manner that all the participants were safe without the fear of COVID-19 virus spread. By following all the safety protocols laid down by the government, the training was arranged by maintaining proper social distancing and also by checking the temperature of the participants. Hand wash and sanitizers were kept in many places inside the campus which helped all the participants to keep themselves safe. Also, all of them were instructed to use face masks in order to safeguard themselves. It was also ensured that all the participants were vaccinated.

Trainers provided training to Digital Sakhis on various topics such as:

1.      Importance of leadership skill for women.
2.      Effective time management Skills.
3.      Significance of team work.
4.      Goal setting and having a vision for success.
5.      Impact of effective communication skills.
6.      Importance of having proper listening skills.
7.      Earning trust and respect amongst team members.
8.      Learning to solve problems which arise for women when acting as a leader.
9.      Learning to make the right decision at the right time.
10.    Stress management.

The participants felt that these topics are the need of the hour and the trainers used interactive methods, PowerPoint Presentations and Videos to make the training even more informative and educative and interesting at the same time. Considering the COVID-19 protocols, activities were conducted by maintaining proper social distance and all the Digital Sakhis participated in the activities in an enthusiastic manner. Chart works and interactive sessions were also conducted in which the doubts raised by the Digital Sakhis were cleared by the trainers.

In addition to this, two virtual sessions were also conducted for the Digital Sakhis. Dr. Palanidurai Professor (Retd.) Gandhigram Rural Institute, trained the Digital Sakhis on Women Leadership in Panchayats and Dr. Ramesh, Associate Professor (NIRD) spoke on Responsibility in Well Being. These training sessions were an eye opening for the Digital Sakhis as it proved to help them to learn useful skills.

The three-day training was a great success which provided lots of hope and confidence to the Digital Sakhis as they went back with more knowledge, skills and confidence.