Need for Mindset Change in Society for Women Empowerment – experts on Women’s day
Respect, encouragement & equal status in society will lead to women empowerment
Female foeticide biggest social evil
NewZNew (Chandigarh) : Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Kapsons Group jointly felicitated women achievers who have done exemplary work in their respective fields like business, social work and journalism etc. Mrs Nishi Kapoor, Director, Kapsons Group presented the mementoes to the achievers who included Ms Parkash Kaur, Ms Sangeeta Bakshi, Ms Komal Talwar, Ms Rekha Mann and Dr Archana R Singh at the Panel Discussion on ‘Are We Ready for the Modern Indian Woman’. The Panel Discussion was held as a part of International Women’s Day Conclave 2015, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) & Kapsons at CII NR Headquarters in sector 31 A, here today.
“Respect, encouragement & equal status in society will lead to women empowerment”, said Ms Parkash Kaur, Founder, Unique Homes, Jalandhar.
Terming female foeticide as the biggest social evil in the society, Ms Kaur, who also featured in Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate mentioned, “The practices of female foeticide and female infanticide is a cause for concern not for Indian society but for the world and it can only be improved by bringing change in the mindset of people. The society needs to move away from ‘Hai Puttar’ psychology and let a girl live, at the first place, with self-respect and dignity. Mass-awareness and concerted efforts in this regard are needed”. “In a country that worships ‘Devi’, why is it that every family wants a son as the first child?, she questioned. Calling urgent corrective steps she added, “If we are not able to stop female foeticide & infanticide, the time will come when even the Government will not able to handle this situation”.
Ms Sangeeta Bakshi, Managing Director, Spicy Treat opined that “The day a child is born, a child is born, not a boy or a girl. Same care, same encouragement and same treatment need to be extended to the child irrespective of the gender. It is important to bring in this mindset in our society”. Sharing her thoughts on the difficulties faced by working women, she said, “Families in India are still not ready for women taking up jobs or become entrepreneurs like men. Still lot more needs to be done for the transition to this mindset. In the middle & lower strata of our society, there is still a superiority complex in men and women are trained to be suppressed. We cannot improve until and unless this mindset is changed.
Ms Komal Talwar, Member, CII Chandigarh Council and Founder & Director, Talwar & Talwar Consultants shared her journey of becoming an entrepreneur. She mentioned that “It is very important for a woman to be financially independent before marriage, as this will give her confidence. The mantra is to set priorities for the day both at home and work. Multitasking is important and possible”. Sharing her views on women empowerment, she mentioned, “The onus is on parents for raising their children. The problem needs to be tackled at that level, encouraging girl children and making boys realise that they are equal.
Dr Archana R Singh, Director, School of Communication, Punjab University, Chandigarh, said “India’s history very well enunciates the modern women of all times starting from Sita, Radha, Droupadi, Rani Lakshmibai and many more, all of them broke the stereotype thinking in their times and stood apart. In today’s world the thinking of the women has grown many folds they do better in every field so there is a need for change in the men dominated society. The real question is ‘Are we ready for a modern man?’.”
Ms Rekha Mann, Founder and Secretary of the Patiala Phulkari Cluster shared that “Most of the women working in the cluster are from the economically weaker sections and when they start working, they face resistance from their families especially from their husbands. However, their strong determination has helped them overcome all such difficulties and lead an independent life”. “We should not judge a woman to be modern by her dress but by her thoughts. More work needs to be done for creating awareness in the villages. There is more responsibility on the women to how they should raise their sons to be able to respect women, she opined.
The Conclave is organized every year to discuss and explore topics of relevance to women & society. This year, for its tenth edition, the theme, “Are we ready for the modern Indian woman?” could not have come at a better time, when gender mainstreaming is the hype of the day. A lot of efforts have been made for elevating women politically, economically, socially, and culturally. And now, when our women are modern, we are still struggling to bring the rest of the society at par to accept this change.
