There should be better participation of women in workforce and politics and people’s mindset needs to change to realise this, said President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday while inaugurating National Women Legislators’ Conference in Kerala assembly, as part of the 75 years of Independence celebrations.
Kovind said that 1857 onwards, women played a stellar role in the freedom struggle against the British rulers. He said when the constituent assembly was formed to draft the Constitution there were 15 members in it and three were from Kerala.
“There should be far more of you (women) contesting and winning elections. But this sad state of affair is a worldwide phenomenon. The challenge before us is to change the mindset, a task that is not easy. It takes immense patience and time. Such achievements should have been natural for women who constitute half of the population,” he said.
“We have to admit that women have suffered a deep-rooted social prejudice. Their proportion in the workforce is nowhere near their potential,” he said, adding there are some positive developments.
He said the freedom movement laid a solid foundation for gender equality in the country but people failed to take it further but of late there is some changes in the mindset as well as rapid advancement towards gender sensitivity, including the one towards the third gender and other gender identities. “Giving 50% reservation to women in local bodies and calling it women empowerment is a misnomer because I think women are powerful any way. Don’t we say they are manifestation of Shakti?” he asked.
He said even after seven decades of Independence “there are many people who have cultivated a romance of regression” and want to marginalise women by imposing patriarchal restrictions on their public appearance and participation in public activities.
“Such actions violate basic constitutional rights as well as laws designed to protect women. What is more painful is the silence of otherwise well meaning people who chose to ignore this patently criminal behaviour towards women,” he said.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, opposition leader V D Satheesan, governor Arif Mohammad Khan and many senior women leaders were also present during the opening session of the two-day conference.
