Take a pledge to respect women: Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein

ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Tuesday urged upon the people to take a pledge to pay respect to and love women for the role they play as a mother, sister, daughter and wife, terming them as the 'nucleus' of the society.

Attending the International Women's Day here with the theme 'Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow', Mein said that the people should not only make the women aware of their rights, but should give them their due, as one cannot imagine a family without women.

He said that the day is of great importance to raise the spirits of women and further appealed to the people to remove the inequality spread in the society.

"Today, there is no field or arena where we can say that women are lagging behind. Rather, I am optimistic to say that one day women may overtake men in many arenas of life," the Deputy Chief Minister pointed out, adding that the role of women is much different today than it was in the past. Mein added that today, women work outside the home much more and their roles are multi-functional. They compete for jobs with men and working in every field, though they still face discrimination. They also have more power than they have in the past.

Mein said that the Government is committed and focused on women empowerment and has implemented many welfare schemes and programmes in the State.

He added that the day is very important for the women as it offers an opportunity to reflect on progress they made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that the State Government had opened exclusive women police stations in Itanagar, Pasighat, Tezu, Ziro and many more to be opened in the district headquarters to deal with the women-related crime.

He added that the Government also runs Swadhar Greh through NGO Oju Welfare Association for destitute women where the women can stay longer time and primary needs of shelter, food clothing and some vocational training is taken care.

"The State Cabinet in order to economically empower the rural women for their self-sustenance, has assured financial support of Rs 1 lakh each to 500 top women Self Help Groups (SHGs), besides providing an additional fixed deposit of Rs 5,000 as top-up amount over existing Rs 20,000 under 'Dulari Kanya Scheme' to the daughters born between January 20, 2022 to January 20 next year," Mein said.

He added that there is no dearth of talent in the State and to recognize them, he advocated for initiating an Achievers' Award by the Government for those who excelled in their chosen area of activities ranging from literature, art-culture and sports.

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