What is Project Prayaas

India has a long history of gender inequality, and women from underprivileged backgrounds are often the most marginalized. They face discrimination in education, employment, and healthcare, and are often victims of violence and abuse. Below are some data points on women in India:

Literacy rate: The literacy rate for women in India is 65.4%, compared to 82.1% for men. This means that there is still a significant gender gap in literacy in India
Workforce participation: The female labour force participation rate in India is 23%, compared to 75% for men. There are a number of reasons for this, including social and cultural barriers, lack of education and skills, and lack of childcare facilities.
Income: The average income for women in India is 30% lower than the average income for men. There are a number of factors that contribute to this gender pay gap, including discrimination, lack of education and skills, and occupational segregation.

The average life expectancy for a woman in India has risen from a little above 40 years in 1960 to 70 years in 2020. This is slightly greater than that for men in India (68 years). However, The 2011 United Nations Development Programme‘s Human Development Report ranked India 132 out of 187 in terms of gender inequality driven by multiple factors like maternal mortality rate, adolescent fertility rate, educational achievement and labour force participation rate.

About Project Prayaas

Conceptualized by Ms Anaya Sheth, a student at Hill Spring International School, Project Prayaas is an initiative focused on empowering underprivileged women in rural India by providing them (as well as their children) with health insurance cover to help them live healthier lives and channel their savings on improving their livelihood and not on meeting medical expenditure. This year, the initiative has already touched over 1,250 lives by provide health insurance coverage to underprivileged women and their children. This initiative was conducted with the support of our partners, Jana Small Finance Bank and Star Health & Allied Insurance.

Successful First Camp in July

On 30 July 2023, Project Prayaas held its first camp in Talegaon near Pune. The camp started with a session on the importance of health insurance coverage for families, followed by a health camp, and culminating in underprivileged women signing up for health insurance coverage. A total of 384 lives were insured in this camp, which comprised of 184 underprivileged women and their 200 dependent children.

Second Camp in September, >2x Scale Achieved

On 2-3 September 2023, Project Prayaas held its second camp in the city of Latur, Maharashtra. The camp followed the same format as the first one, but garnered double the participation. A total of 873 lives were insured in this camp, which comprised of 307 underprivileged women and their 566 dependent children.

We are happy to share that, a global technology company in the payments space, has already agreed to contribute towards renewal premiums of the insured beneficiaries for the next two years.