“Project Puthri, a step towards the development of women”

The “Puthri Project”, an initiative to empower disadvantaged girls to reach their full potential, was launched Thursday at MOP Vaishnav College for Women. The event included the unveiling of its website by five beneficiaries of the Sri Venu Gopal Vidhyalaya Public School.

The “Puthri Project” is the brainchild of the Avatar Human Capital Trust, and the academic initiative was started by Bharathy Bhaskar, senior vice president of Citibank Chennai. Ms. Bhaskar spoke about the importance of female portrayal and its effects on the female psyche, as girls who grow up are deterred from advancing to higher positions in life due to the fact that it is difficult to visualize women in higher positions. While the number of women in the workforce has increased, the number of women in leadership positions remains the same.

Saundarya Rajesh, founding president of AVTAR and Puthri, said women in India are the largest group of untapped resources and the path to economic development is through girls’ education and women’s empowerment.

She claimed that only about 1-2% of students in public and private schools enroll in colleges. Therefore, initiatives like Puthri will enable disadvantaged children to develop their potential and pursue their dreams.