The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : “Women have more choices now”

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Wednesday, Mar 04, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

“Women have more choices now”

Special Correspondent

— Photo: A.Muralitharan

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: Minister of State for Textiles E.V.K.S. Elangovan, giving away a certificate to a student at the graduation day of Prince Shri Venkateshwara Padmavathy Engineering College in Ponmar near Tambaram on Monday. (From left): K.Vasudevan, college chairman, J.Kumar, director, Crystal Growth Centre, Anna University and Vietnam Veedu Sundaram, film director, are in the picture.

TAMBARAM: Women have the freedom to choose their lifestyles and they could no longer be dictated terms by their male relatives, Union Minister of State for Textiles E.V.K.S. Elangovan said on Monday.

Speaking during the fourth graduation day of Prince Shri Venkateshwara Padmavathy Engineering College in Ponmar near Tambaram, he said that unlike in the past, when there were deliberate attempts to prevent women from having access to education, women had more choices now.

While recalling that Tamil Nadu was in the forefront of the struggle to establish women’s rights, especially in the field of education, he said the present generation of educated women owed a lot to those who pioneered the struggle more than six decades ago. Mr. Elangovan said women now had access to quality education and good jobs.

“History has shown us that given the opportunities, women excel men in all fields of life,” he added.

Mr. Elangovan said India had made giant strides in the overall economic development in the past sixty years. From a nation with a fixed image of hunger, disease and ability to shine only in hockey, the country had made all round progress. He said there was an opinion that China posed the most important competition to India. “But we have a definite competitive edge over China. A huge population of educated people with an ability to speak in English and more importantly credibility has positioned India ahead of China,” he added.

He also gave certificates and cash awards to some of the graduates. In all, more than 200 students from different disciplines received their degrees on the occasion. Cash awards worth Rs.4 lakh were handed over to students. J.Kumar, Director, Crystal Growth Centre, Anna University, distributed general proficiency prizes.

Film director ‘Vietnam Veedu’ Sundaram distributed prizes to winners of sports events.

K.Vasudevan, college chairman, welcomed the gathering and T. Sounderrajan, principal, read out the annual report.

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