SARTHIE 1.0 campaign launched to empower marginalized sections of society: Ramdas Athawale

New Delhi: Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice, Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday said that the SARTHIE 1.0 campaign aims to empower marginalized and vulnerable individuals of society.
Athawale said this in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
The initiative aims to empower marginalized and vulnerable individuals of the society including Scheduled Castes (SCs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Transgender Persons, Senior Citizens, Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), sanitation workers, waste pickers, victims of substance abuse, and persons engaged in the act of begging, through a combination of awareness programs and legal assistance, to avail benefits and entitlements guaranteed by social welfare legislations and other enactments as well as administrative programmes of the Government, Athawale said.
"SARTHIE 1.0 campaign is a joint initiative of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE), Government of India and the National Legal Services Authority, India (NALSA)," as per a Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment release.
It aims to empower individuals by raising awareness on, and providing legal assistance for availing, their rights, benefits and entitlements. The initiative seeks to bridge the awareness gap among these groups regarding their legal rights, welfare entitlements, and government schemes, Athawale added.
Athawale further said that the initiative is designed to 'empower' individuals through 'awareness' and 'assistance', in order to achieve a dynamic balance of social, educational and economic empowerment of the vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalized sections of society. The activities undertaken under this campaign shall act as a platform for disseminating vital information on social welfare schemes and policies, assisting individuals in accessing benefits and entitlements and exchanging good practices, in both urban and rural populations.
NALSA's existing nationwide network in States, districts and talukas, will facilitate the organising of awareness camps and seminars for the marginalised and vulnerable sections of society and providing legal assistance for availing, their rights, benefits and entitlements, Athawale said.