WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT AND HEALTH EXPERIENCES 145 (ailed "personal" struggles were seen to be inter-related and formed an integral part of the struggle of the working class woman. The rural woman had no access to the legal system and most often justice was sought through the male dominated traditional caste Panchayats. The urban woman had limited access to the legal system but she too seemed at the mercy of her family and caste leaders. A need for a women's support group was strongly felt to build the confidence in urban women and to provide access to the legal system for rural women. Thus was bom the Mahila Samooh, Ajmer. In 1990, Sathins from eight districts gathered in Padampura to share their experiences in a mela. Apart from sharing their work experiences, the Sathins had an opportunity to discuss their exploitative service conditions. The Sathins, who form the backbone of the programme, did not enjoy the status of a worker. They are called voluntary workers and paid a measly honorarium of two hundred Rs. and enjoy no legal rights. A collective demand was raised for improvement in their service conditions; to press for their demands the Sathins went on strike. The activists from IDARA and IDS, instead of helping the Sathins to articulate their demands and giving direction to their struggle, became vociferous defendants of the state and played an active role in breaking the strike. Later, in December 1990, rural women from Kekri village organised themselves into an autonomous group under an independent banner and participated in the National Women's Meet in .Calicut. Instead of being rewarded for practicing their empowerment, they were humiliated and punitive action was taken against them. The services of five Sathins and one Pracheta were terminated. Support from women's groups from different parts of the country helped the group survive and challenge their job termination in the High Court. Over a period of time, contradictions began deepening and the clash of interests between the grass-root and the higher levels of the programme became sharper. Most women activists within the programme took clear pro-establishment stands, opposing any effort on the part of Sathins to unionise. Having made inroads into rural areas, the state no longer seemed to require the facade of empowering women. There is now a clear shift from raising grass-root level issues to an extension of the state's policies to the village level. There is now an open collaboration with the population control lobby; and WDP has now become a vehicle for transporting, communicating and inundating the villages with information and programmes that promote market interests. Sathins have been given booklets on the virtues of the injectable hormonal contraceptive Net-en as well as the hormonal implant Norplant. Despite stiff opposition, Sathins and P^rachetas have organised themselves into separate unions. This helps them to raise demands for basic rights, as workers and protest against exploitative service