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Smt. Kanti Singh, Minister of State for Human Resource Development has said that only educated and socially and economically empowered women can put an end to gender discrimination in the society. Smt. Kanti Singh was speaking at the interactive session with Elected Women Representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies, here today.
Highlighting the UPA Government’s focus on women empowerment, Smt. Singh said that reservation of women in political process has given an opportunity to them to take decisions on economic development and social change of the community. Referring to the UPA Government’s initiative on gender budgeting, the Minister hoped that such a measure will give a boost to the balanced development in the society. Smt. Singh also mentioned about the recently introduced ‘Right to Information Bill’ in the Parliament and said that it will help the Panchayat members to get all development related information without any hindrance.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director, United Nations Development Fund for Women, appreciated the struggle of women at the grassroots level and said that women empowerment is a vital part in the journey of democracy. ‘Women are educators and they must work to break the cycle of poverty and discrimination’, she said.
Dr. Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Commission for Women underlined the importance of women participation in decision making process. She informed that NCW will soon be launching an Awareness Campaign on different issues related to women empowerment.
The interactive meeting of selected representatives from among the women Panchayat leaders and leaders of Urban Bodies was convened to provide a forum for these women to share their experiences of over a decade of implementation of Panchayati Raj. The participants were drawn from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The interaction focused on their achievements and discussed experiences with an aim to strengthen not only the institutions of Panchayati Raj but the participation of women in the functioning of the panchayat. There are now 2.5 lakh Panchayats, 5906 intermediate panchayats and about 500 district panchayats spread throughout the country and managed by about 30 lakh elected representatives. About 10 lakh of them are women.
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