Chipko Movement: Gaura Devi as Part of International Women’s Day Celebration

Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ along with senior women officers of the Ministry planted a sapling in memory of Gaura Devi of Chipko Movement

The Ministry of Human Resource Development is celebrating Women’s Week from 1st March to 8^th March 2020

What Is Chipko Movement?

• Chipko movement is a socio-ecological movement that aimed at resisting mass deforestation using Gandhian ways of Non-violent resistance and satyagraha through the act of hugging the trees to guard them against being cut down for commercial purposes
• “Chipko” interprets to “stick” or to “hug” interposing their bodies between the trees and also the contractor’s axes.
• The “Chipko Movement” is a comparatively modern movement that was initiated in Garhwal range of mountains of Uttarakhand within the early Seventies (1974) because of spreading awareness about rapid deforestation and its adverse effects.
• It saw the large participation of women. Its leaders and activists were primarily women, acting so as to guard their subsistence and their communities.
• Environmentalist and Gandhian social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt, founder of the cooperative organisation Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh, led the first Chipko movement near the village of Mandal in
• The Chipko movement is essentially called a women’s movement. The movement appealed to women because women suffered the most due to floods and landslides, which were caused due to rise in deforestation in the face of urbanisation. Chipko Andolan stands out as an eco-feminist movement.
• This inspired many such movements across India, reaching as far as the Vindhyas and also the Western Ghats. It generated pressure for a natural resource policy that is more sensitive to the environment and people’s wants.
• The movement, later also inspired the “Appiko Chaluvali” or the  “Appiko Movement”, which is the Southern Indian version of “Chipko Movement”.
• After half a decade of strong protests, the Chipko movement yielded result in 1980, with the government banning the felling of trees in the Himalayan forests of Uttar Pradesh for a period of 15 years. Subsequently, the green-felling ban was also extended to forests in the Western Ghats and the Vindhyas.

Gaura Devi

International Women’s Day

 International Women’s Day is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women.

International Women’s Day 2020: Theme

According to UN, the theme of International Women’s Day 2020 is “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”. And the campaign theme for International Women’s Day 2020 is #EachforEqual.

History

In 1975, during International Women’s Year, the United Nations began celebrating International Women’s Day on 8 March. Two years later, in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by the Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions. In adopting its resolution, the General Assembly recognized the role of women in peace efforts, development and urged an end to discrimination with an increase of support for women’s full and equal participation.
International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. Let us see the history behind celebrating the International Women’s Day.

The Ministries of Women and Child Development with other ministries have launched a campaign from 1^st-7^th March to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) 8^th March 2020. The campaign has a theme for all the days beginning from 1^st March 2020.

The themes that are being observed include

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