Uttarakhand Congress launches Shakti campaign to empower women

NEW DELHI: With the help of Shakti campaign, launched under the Congress party’s Indira Priyadarshini Fellowship programme, Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) is making its efforts to connect the women with the party organization at the ground level across the state.

The Indira fellowship is an initiative of the Youth Congress, a frontal youth wing of the Indian National Congress, to empower the women to emerge and rise in the country’s political leadership.

Addressing a press conference at the UPCC’ headquarters in Dehradun, state convenor of the Indira fellowship programme Nandini said Shakti campaign was launched in the hill state in April 2024 and several women leaders joined this programme. “Through this programme, we aim to bring forward women leaders in the elections of right from Panchayat-local bodies to the state and the Parliament elections,” she told reporters.


As per the plan, the ongoing Shakti campaign will select one Indira fellow in every block across the state. Every fellow will constitute 50 Shakti Clubs accommodating at least five members. The Shakti Club’s president will play the main role in this programme. Shakti clubs will work in their ward or Panchayat concerned on different issues, including development, corruption, and crime against women. The women, who will be associated with the Shakti Club, will be given proper training for capacity building.

Till date, 11 fellows have been selected in Udhamsingh Nagar, Nainital, Bageshwar, Almora, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh, and Champawat districts. The selected 11 fellows have also constituted 62 Shakti Clubs. One camp was organized for these clubs in Haldwani in June 2024. In the coming three months, booth camps will be organized in the state’s 21 organizational districts and city units of the Congress party under the Shakti campaign.

The Congress party has planned to strengthen the Shakti campaign across the state before the 2027 assembly polls. The process for the selection of fellows in every block and the constitution of Shakti Clubs will be completed. The Shakti campaign aims to increase the political participation of women in the rural areas.

UPCC’s vice president Mathura Dutt Joshi, who was present at the press conference, said that Congress has its own history of politically promoting women in the national movement.