Understanding the Aspirations

Bhubaneshwar: “Daughters are not born, they are a manifestation,” said Governor of Odisha Prof Ganeshi Lal, while inaugurating an international conference on the topic of “The 21st Century Women’s Issues Shaping the World” on January 11. The seminar was organised by the World Organisation of Students & Youth (WOSY). National organising secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Shri Sunil Ambekar was also present.

Addressing the gathering, Prof Ganeshi Lal further said every cell of our body should speak one language and that should be the language of positivity. “Inner evolution is more important than innovation. That there are no barriers when our heart is open, and passports are only a means of differentiating people based on geography. There are no boundaries for humankind,” he added.

Many issues ranging from providing LPG cooking gas to rural women to women participatory role in global economic reforms were discussed at the Seminar. Impressive participation of enthusiastic young students from 53 countries as witnessed at the Seminar. A total of 487 delegates including 290 boys and 197 girls participated in the Seminar. 315 out of 487 were international students. The seminar was jointly organised by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (India), Pragik Vidyarthi Parishad (Nepal), Nepal Students Council (Nepal), Rashtriya Janashakti Students Union (Nepal), Federation of International Students Association (Bengaluru, India), Federation of International Students Association (Pune, India) and Association of African Students in India.

Shri Sunil Ambekar highlighted the major flagship initiatives of the Government of India that are designed for the upliftment of women in India. Ujjwala Scheme for providing LPG gas connection to rural women, toilets constructed for hygiene and safeguarding the dignity of women, providing Atal Pension Yojna, extending maternity leave to 6 months are all aligned to the Government’s motto of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’.

Earlier, Secretary General of WOSY briefed the theme and objectives of the conference. Chairperson of WOSY Dr Rashmi Das highlighted the issues women are facing in the 21st Century. She said we consider women’s issues the prominent social agenda of our times, something which has to be acted upon by the entire society. Women’s issues are shaping government policy and they are shaping the world. Any society wishing to be fair and just must account for the way it treats women. Society has to be retrofitted to reflect truly the ability and aspirations of women.

At another session on Indian Government for Women, president for Futuristic Cities Smt Karuna Gopal and Social Auditor of Ujjwala Scheme Smt Neha Joshi highlighted how the Government of India is transforming the ecosystem for women to live a dignified life. At the session ‘Mothers, how to heal the World’, founder of Mother on Wheels Smt Madhuri Sahasrabuddhe, who crossed 23,000 km covering 22 countries in 60 days from India to the UK shared her experience on how she interacted with mothers and women of 22 countries. On the topic ‘Health & Psychology’, Prof Meena Harihan, a Professor at the University of Hyderabad, Additional Professor of Psychology and Principal Investigator at NIMHANS Dr Geeta Desai and Dr Anita from BRA University spoke. The session addressed the serious concern women face in terms of mental health, stress, depression and how that affects their personal and professional life.

The second session focused on ‘Role of Women in India’s leadership of World’. Cho S Ramaswamy Chair Professor, Public Policy at Sastra University Prof R. Vaidyanathan and president for Futuristic Cities Smt. Karuna Gopal shared their views. Smt Gopal said women are blessed with talents for multi-tasking as it is said that a woman can juggle balls and walk on a tight rope. In Indian culture women are referred as symbol of power (shakti) and that power is depicted as a triangle, one angle of the triangle signifies knowledge (Jnana), second angle signifies desire (ichha) and the third angle signifies action (kriya) and that can be concluded as a woman can exhibit her power by accumulating knowledge and having an intrinsic desire to bring it into action. Prof. Vaidyanathan vividly explained how woman are the key to India’s growth and have been responsible for driving the growth in recent years.

Third plenary session was on the topic ‘Men Leaders for Women Empowerment “He for She”. Senior journalist from the Financial Chronicle Shri KA Badarinath and ABVP National Joint Organising Secretary Shri Laxman G spoke. Shri Laxman stressed the inherent qualities of women such as softness, selfless service and their qualities to change the mindset of the male. Shri Badrinath spoke on how women in India have always been held with high esteem as compared to Western countries.

At the fourth plenary session on Security & Sensitisation of Women” Karnataka IPS Roopa D Moudgil shared how she was transferred 42 times in 18 years. She stressed that when you stay on the right side of the law you will always win in the end and sometimes it required standing up in the court system for the right thing even it involves financial cost.

At the concluding session Ambassador of India to Sweden Smt Banashri Bose Harrison stressed the need for empowering women and understanding the dreams and aspirations of a girl child. She said the society could lead to a meaningful direction when women stand tall on the right path.