After its successful 14 years as an organisation of women working in the unorganised sector, Penkoottu is spreading its wings into the sphere of art. The Penkoottu Film Society that was registered on April 21 (Sunday), the third women’s film society in the State after one each in Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram, is a bold step in that direction.
An organisation of women labourers based at S.M. Street in Kozhikode, that mostly constitute sales girls, tailors and cleaners, besides others in the unorganised sector, Penkoottu was instrumental in bringing about a revolution, first through its struggle to get toilets set up in every establishment where women are employed and later with the ‘Right to Sit’ campaign that was successful in ensuring that women, especially sales girls in textile shops, get to sit down when they are not catering to customers. Several other struggles and protests under the able leadership of its president P. Viji have cemented its position as a champion of women’s rights in the State.
“We felt that we need to find new avenues to make our voice heard and hence we are diversifying our activities,” P. Viji told The Hindu on April 19 (Friday).
