A key consultation was held in Pune to address the challenges of single women and discuss sustainable support strategies.
Additional Chief Secretary V. Radha suggested appointing CDPOs as local-level coordinators to help single women access schemes and services.
The administration will initiate a six-month drive for documentation, legal aid, credit access, employment, and market linkage for single women.
Pune, 1st August 2025: A detailed discussion on the challenges faced by single women and potential solutions was held at the Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium, Pune Zilla Parishad. The session was chaired by Additional Chief Secretary (General Administration Department – Services) Ms. V. Radha and attended by several senior administrative officials and social workers.
Speaking at the session, Ms. Radha emphasized the need for sustained and organized efforts to support the holistic development of single women. She suggested that Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) be appointed as single points of contact at the taluka level to help address their issues efficiently. She added that the Zilla Parishad CEO would oversee coordination at the district level.
To ensure that single women are not left behind in development, Ms. Radha announced that the government will launch a six-month focused administrative drive to help them obtain the necessary documents to access government schemes.
Legal experts will also be made available to provide guidance, while efforts will be made to generate employment opportunities and provide low-interest credit to single women and their families. Additionally, market linkage will be provided to support women entrepreneurs.
Alongside administrative steps, awareness campaigns will be launched to tackle social challenges and stigma that many single women face in their daily lives.
Divisional Commissioner Dr. Chandrakant Pulkundwar, Pune Zilla Parishad CEO Mr. Gajanan Patil, and Dr. Sudha Kothari of Chaitanya Sanstha also spoke at the event, expressing their commitment to ensuring the empowerment and upliftment of single women in the region.
The meeting saw participation from several key officials including Additional CEO Mr. Chandrakant Waghmare, Project Director Ms. Shalini Kadu, Deputy CEOs Mr. Srikant Kharat and Mr. Bhushan Joshi, District Programme Officer Mr. Jamsing Girase, Block Development Officer Mr. Shekhar Shelar, and others.
