Gender Equality is a human right, yet in this world, men and women continue to face disparities in access to opportunities and decision-making power. Women’s rights and chances to meet their full potential are crucial not just for achieving gender equality, but also for meeting a wide range of international developmental goals. Gender equity lays the groundwork for gender equality. In order to achieve gender equality, we need to change the narrative and focus away from fixing women and put it squarely where it belongs—fixing the system. As part of International Women’s Day celebrations, the NSS and SEVA units of Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth (CVV) came together to successfully organise and conduct an interactive discussion on Friday, the 10 March 2023. The theme was the theme of this year’s IWD, that is, #EmbracingEquity. The Guest of Honour for this prestigious event was the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Ms. Rekha Sharma.
Mr. Steve Romy and Ms. Drishya V. Pillai (2nd year BSc Applied Psychology (Hons.) were the hosts for the event. The event commenced with the rendition of a prayer by Ms. Ananya Hariharan and Ms. Anitta Biju (2nd year BA BEd English). Student coordinator of the event, Ms. Durga Manju Rajeev (2nd year BSc Applied Psychology (Hons.), gave the welcome address.
The Presidential Address was delivered by Prof. Ajay Kapoor (Vice Chancellor, CVV). Dr. Pramod Dinakar (Assist. Professor, School of Ethics, Governance, Culture and Social Systems) introduced the Guest of Honour Ms. Rekha Sharma and invited her to speak.Ms. Rekha Sharma’s speech, which evidently resonated with everyone present at the venue, included insightful words about the need for equality in our society. She spoke about the discrimination and discrepancies faced by Indian women to date and how she, and her team at NCW, plan to do everything possible to fight these discrepancies. Her speech was followed by the display of a video message from the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi. In the previous nine years, India, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has shifted from women development to women-led development. Speaking during a post-budget webcast on women’s empowerment, Mr. Modi stated that the country’s current enrolment rate for women in engineering, science, technology, and maths is 42%. After watching the video message, the stage was open for discussion. Multiple questions and concerns that were brought up by the students of CVV were eloquently addressed by the Guest of Honour.
Prof. Ajay Kapoor and Dr. Sunitha Grandhee (Dean–Academics, CVV) presented a token of gratitude on behalf of the CVV family to Ms. Rekha Sharma.
The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Abha Mohan (Assistant Dean and Assistant Professor, School of Contemporary Knowledge Systems, CVV). The event was brought to an end with the recitation of the shanti mantra by Ms. Ananya Hariharan and Ms. Anitta Biju (2nd year BA BEd English).
Report by: Durga Manju Rajeev (2nd year BSc Applied Psychology (Hons.)