I have some good news for you all and for women across my state Andhra Pradesh. About 60 stakeholders including the police, the department of women and child development and Juvenile justice have understood the importance of Mahila Mitra and have given a positive nod to take it forward.

Here is what happened. I was invited to address a meeting on 10th October at the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) where these stakeholders we're present. The focus of the meeting was to drive convergence with AP State Police in order to strengthen the functioning of the women at grassroots.

It was truly generous of SERP to give me this opportunity. As some of you may not be aware of SERP, let me share a little about them. They are working extensively with about 80 lakh women members in self help groups. As a continuation of Chief Minister Naidu's call on making AP a women-friendly state by making an action plan, SERP called for a stakeholder meeting to eliminate and resist gender-based violence against women and girls across Andhra Pradesh by establishing a network of grassroots level women protection committees to provide an easily available and accessible support structure to rural women.

It was at that this meeting that I gave a presentation on Mahila Mitra and its success story. I emphasized the need to scale it up. Mahila Mitra members too shared the impact of this initiative on them individually.

I believe this meeting was a milestone for us. As you have supported my campaign, I wanted to share this with you.