New Delhi: Stressing the need for a national movement to empower women, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that no girl child should be left out of school.
Observing that the flagship ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme had created a positive impact across the nation, Naidu said in a Facebook post that a lot more needed to be done to change the societal mindset.
In the post, entitled “End Discrimination, Empower Women”, Naidu pointed out that with the womenfolk constituting about 50 per cent of India’s population, progress cannot be achieved unless they are given equal opportunities in all spheres, including the political arena.
“We need to show in action and in deed that gender discrimination no longer exists—that should be our goal,” he stressed.
Urging all political parties to arrive at a consensus “at the earliest” on the long-pending proposal to provide adequate reservation to women in Parliament and state legislatures at the earliest, Naidu emphasised the need for giving equal property rights to women for their economic emancipation.
The Vice-President had recently released a report- ‘Status of Sex Ratio at Birth in India’ – which mentioned that there has not been any change in the sex ratio at birth in India from 2001-2017 — the number of the girl child born is much less than what is the general or natural norm. It was brought out by the Indian Association of Parliamentarians for Population and Development (IAPPD).
Referring to the report, he said it is an alarming issue that needs to be addressed on war footing by all the stakeholders —from the society at large to parliamentarians, government, policy makers, opinion leaders, media organisations and various organisations working to empower women.
Urging elected representatives at all levels to draw the attention of people in their respective areas to the alarming aspect of the skewed sex ratio, Naidu called upon every citizen to act as a warrior in completely eradicating social evils like dowry system and in eliminating ‘son preference’ mindset.
Stressing the need for rigorous implementation of Pre-conception & Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques (PC & PNDT) law to bring about a balance in the sex ratio, the Vice-President said there should be zero tolerance towards any kind of discrimination or violence against girls and women.