Four women who work towards abolishing the custom of dowry were felicitated at the Science City auditorium on the occasion of the 253rd birth anniversary of Raja Rammohan Roy, a pioneer of women’s rights.
Belarani Mahato, Saimoni Mahato, Parbati Mahato and Bhakti Banuar strive to empower women in several villages in Purulia, pushing these women to find their calling and stand up for their rights.
The four received the Rammohan Acharya Sanman 2025 at a programme organised by Ram Mohan Mission and Rammohan Mission High School.
“We are doing a campaign to raise consciousness among all that we will neither give nor accept dowry. We use cultural programmes and songs as a medium to convey our message and raise over voices against a social evil,” said Belarani.
Belarani and others organise sessions in schools where they speak to young girls about how dowry undermines the status of women.
“We go to schools and talk to young girls that they should object to giving dowry when they get married. There has to be a change in the mindset, and it has to start from a young age,” said Belarani.
Changing the mindset is not an easy task, Belarani and the group of women have learnt the hard way.
From being turned out of their houses to being mistreated, Belarani and her group have seen it all.
“There are women who have not stepped out of their homes ever in their lives. They do not know what happens in the outside world. They are not ready to change their viewpoints and want to remain where they are,” said Belarani, who runs an organisation called Jambad Milon Akhra.
Besides the four, the group also has other women who work with them.
The empowerment work includes instilling confidence in these village women to become independent.
“If they do not have their own livelihood, they will have to ask their husbands for an amount as meagre as ₹10. The women have responsibilities at home and cannot always go out. We tell them things that they can do from their home without compromising on their responsibilities,” said Belarani.
The ideas for livelihood include growing vegetables in their backyard or raising poultry.
“These women (the four who were felicitated) go around the villages and through cultural programmes spread a social message for the rights of women. We could only invite four of them but there are many more, and many others have benefited from them,” said Sujoy Biswas, president of Ram Mohan Mission and principal of Rammohan Mission High School.