President requests India to give women freedom to 'exercise choice'

Minds of women should be empowered and conditions must be created for them to freely exercise choices at home and in the workplace, President Pranab Mukherjee said today on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

Presenting the ‘Nari Shakti Award’ to 15 women and seven institutions for their exceptional contribution to women empowerment, the President said the mindset of our people must evolve and they must realise it is in society’s own interest to allow freedom of choice to women.

Haryana was among the seven institutional awardees for the state’s improved child sex ratio.

“I often hear of women not being given the opportunity or permission to do something. I would say why wait for others to give you what is your right. The minds of our women should be empowered.

“The mindset of our people must evolve. They must realise that it is in society’s own interest to create conditions for women to freely exercise choices at home and in the workplace without restrictions or fear,” Mukherjee said.

The awardees included journalist, environmentalist, social worker, lawyer, human rights activist picked by a select committee.

“Each awardee is an inspiration, does India proud, and is a trailblazer in her innovation... These women have a history of overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles through courage and foresight to bring about positive change they wish to see in the world,” Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said at the event.

Fifteen women awardees are Sister Lucy Kurien, Priti Patkar, Shakuntala Majumdar and Jyoti Mhapsekar from Maharashtra; Vasu Primlani, Sumita Ghose, Anjali Sharma and Krishna Yadav from Delhi; Saurabh Suman from Bihar; Basanti Devi from Uttarakhand; Suparna Baksi Ganguly from Karnataka;

Meena Sharma from Rajasthan; Uttra Parwar from Madhya Pradesh;

Polumati Vijaya Nirmala from Andhra Pradesh; and Sujata Sahu from Haryana.

The institutional awardees are Angadipuram Gramma Panchayat (Kerala), State of Haryana, Guria Swayam Sevi from Uttar Pradesh, Jagori from Delhi, Konoklota Mahila Urban Co-operative Bank (Assam), Technology, Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council of Department of Science and Technology, and Breakthrough Trust (Delhi).