Bhubaneswar, June 10: Project Nandini, a social cause movement in memory of Iron Lady Nandini Satpathy, was launched by Governor Rameshwar Thakur last evening.

The project marked the former chief minister’s 76th birth anniversary and first National Daughters’ Day.

Initiated by Nandini Satpathy Memorial Trust (SNSMT), Project Nandini aims to make women the agents of social change through a series of initiatives designed for semi-urban and rural women of India. The project would be implemented in four phases taking into account four separate phases of a woman's life — infancy, adolescence, womanhood and old age.

Addressing the gathering yesterday the governor said: “It has been noticed that the more materially prosperous a region is, the more adverse the situation is for girl.” Project Nandini in the first year (2007-08) will focus on develop in a group of 200 adolescent girls.

The project would also encourage entrepreneurial skills for self-sustenance by imparting vocational programs, special talent development programs and community participation programs.

In the first year the focus would be on empowering adolescent girls with knowledge, communication skills, health education, and information on safe mother hood, family planning and interactive sessions with successful women achievers.