Photo: BSS

By Md Mamun Islam 
 
RANGPUR, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS) - Hundreds of rural women who have achieved self-reliance through hard work are contributing to accelerating socio-economic progress and keeping the rural economy vibrant on the path to achieving sustainable rural development.

Even a decade and a half ago, these successful women had to live in misery due to extreme poverty, and their children are now going to school, although in the past they never thought about their children's education.

At the same time, they have achieved sanitation coverage, raised their voices against oppression, child marriage, dowry, polygamy, superstitions and adopted proper family planning to reduce the population growth rate. 

Due to their commendable awareness, maternal and neonatal mortality, malnutrition of children, women and pregnant women have decreased everywhere, including in remote and hard-to-reach riverine char areas.

Taking to BSS, the successful women said this has only been possible through their hard work or through achieving economic self-reliance with the help of various ongoing programmes by the government, NGOs and donor agencies. 

They said rural women have already overcome extreme poverty as the earning women have now become economically independent through various income generating activities (IGAs).

Successful women Farida Yasmin, Bharoti Rani, Shyamoli Rani, Nurnahar and Parveen Akhter of different Rangpur villages narrated their success stories and stressed for ensuring equal women rights through empowering them socially and politically. 

They have achieved success through sewing handloom garments, small-scale enterprises and business, animal husbandry, rearing poultry birds, homestead gardening, farming fruits, spices, fish and agri-activities. 

Many of them have achieved success through homestead gardening and setting up of smaller cottage industries, participatory social forestation, microcredit activities and income generations under the government's social safety net programmes. 

Akhterun Nahar, Julekha Khatun and Lucky Akhter of Kurigram villages said their economic self-reliance made it possible to root out the extreme poverty that created untold sufferings to the rural poor in the pasts. 

Tea-leaves pluckier female farm-labourers Mohsena Khatun, Bulbuli Begum, Aklima, Sabina Yasmin, Nasrine, Rozina Khatun and Halima of Panchagarh villages said they have achieved economic well-being by plucking green tea leaves in the tea gardens. 

Nuhera Khatun, Marjina Akhter, Shudha Rani, Fahima and Julekha Begum of different villages in Nilphamari said they have achieved self-reliance through the government's social safety-net programmes and employment generating activities. 

While narrating their success stories of winning against poverty, hunger and illiteracy, the successful women said that they are now living well and their children are going to the schools and though their days were miserable even a decade ago. 

Chairman of Northbengal Institute of Development Studies Dr Syed Samsuzzaman said the rural womenfolk have achieved self-reliance through various IGAs with GO-NGO assistance to accelerate social advancement, sustainable development and women empowerment. 

He said, "These successful rural women have been playing an important role in socio-economic development and empowerment of women in society." 

He further suggested strengthening local government bodies by empowering women union members to accelerate the development and empowerment of rural women to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.