Karnataka - Gulbarga   

‘Men should help end gender disparity’

GULBARGA: The District Women and Child Development Officer Ratna Kalamdhani on Wednesday said that men should come forward to end gender disparities in all sectors and help women enjoy equal rights.

Inaugurating a one-day seminar as part of the International Women’s Day celebrations organised by the Gulbarga University and the Information Department here, Ms. Kalamdhani said that despite making marked progress in different fields and attaining educational empowerment to an extent, women were yet to make progress in many areas.

It was the duty of men to help women attain equal rights in all the fields, she said.

She pointed out that the Government had initiated several measures for empowerment of women and one of the important measures in this regard was supporting and nurturing Stree Shakti groups.

There were 8,500 Stree Shakti groups in the districts that were getting financial assistance from the Government, she said.

The evolution of the Stree Shakti groups had changed the equations of women in society, particularly of those living in rural areas, she added.

Ms. Kalamdhani said that these groups had helped its members in improving their economic levels.

The 8,500 Stree Shakti groups in the district had a turnover of Rs. 32 crore every year.

This had also helped in nurturing thrift habit among women in rural areas and ended their dependence on men, she said.

To end the practice of female foeticide the Government had launched the Bhagyalakshmi Scheme, she said.

Ms. Kalamdhani said that it was everybody’s duty to ensure that women got their share in development particularly in the field of education, health and security. Gynaecologist Indira Veerabhadrappa delivered a lecture on “Awareness about the female foeticide”; Sirsija Rajan spoke on “Domestic Violence Act, 2005; district convener of the Mahila Samukya Jyothi Kulkarni spoke on women empowerment.

Gulbarga University Vice-Chancellor B.G. Mulimani, Registrar Pratapsingh Tiwari, head of the Zoology Department Saraswati Patil and Assistant Director of the Information Department G. Chandrakant were among those present.

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