The Hindu : National : Indian women have a new face: Kiran Bedi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 26, 2005

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National

Indian women have a new face: Kiran Bedi

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 25. Indian women are no more portrayed as victimised people by the international media. Instead, they are projected as leaders in their own right.

This despite occasional stories on dowry deaths and female infanticide, said Kiran Bedi, senior IPS officer, who is back from New York after a two-year stint with the United Nations.

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, has given a new face to Indian women.

``The way she fought and won elections in the largest democracy has given a new identity to Indian women,'' Ms. Bedi told the inaugural function of Women Power Connect, a conglomerate of groups working on women's issues. Indian women now had a face to stand out in the world, she added.

``If there are stories of child marriage and female infanticides, there are also reports about those women who have made a difference.'' Ms. Bedi said it was also necessary to save the girl child and give her the best in the nation's interest.

Stressing the need for empowering women politically, the National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson, Girija Vyas, said that it was equally important to empower women financially.

``This can be done by gender budgeting — not in terms of the percentage of money earmarked for women — but by increasing the allocation in the sectors of health, education, sanitation and opportunities.'' Admitting that women MPs often did not take up women's issues in Parliament, she said it was important that women remained united and worked in cooperation with women. ``My mantra is to go towards the rural areas to create awareness among women.''

The Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, said that whenever given opportunities, women had proved themselves.

``But when we are given opportunities, we have to become role models for others and it is equally important to justify our demands.'' Drawing attention to the condition of women when they were first elected to the panchayats, Ms. Dikshit said the elected women were now realising the worth of power. ``They know how to utilise it properly and that is what is scaring men.''

The strategic action plan of Women Power Connect includes passage of Women's Reservation Bill that guarantees 33 per cent reservation for women in the State Assemblies and Parliament, gender budgeting, tabling of the Domestic Violence Bill and reforms in legislation concerning women as recommended by the special review committee to the Law Commission.

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