Ludhiana, March 8
The Department of Health Education and Family Welfare, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, organised a seminar on ‘Population Increases, Women Decreases’ on March 7, 2002 on the eve of International Women’s Day at Sherpur Government School. More than 100 women health volunteers, women panchayat members, human rights workers, women law activists and women leaders attended the seminar. Women from slum and semi-slum areas also took part in the discussion.
The overall objective of the seminar was to create awareness among women about their reproductive rights, female foeticide and its impact on the population growth. During the seminar, Mr Gursharanjit Singh, a renowned human rights activists and social worker emphasised that despite the best efforts of the government, population has increased manifold. The existing rate of growth of population had nullified all development efforts.
Dr S.C. Gupta, Prof and Head, Department of Health Education and Family Welfare, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana stressed that the role of women should be productive and not merely reproductive. Dr Gupta further elaborated that figures of the 2001 census which have scared the authorities concerned show that sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 years has declined sharply from 945 females per 1000 males in 1991 to 927 females today. Paradoxically, sex ratio decline is most prominent in the high per-capita income areas of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. As per ninth five year plan (1997-2002) the factors responsible for this continued decline have not been clearly identified yet. A majority of the decade’s programmes and projects in Punjab meant primarily for facilitating women’s access to productive resources and their actual participation in development have not brought the desired results due to lack of commitment among the agencies concerned.
Seminars organised by the International Human Rights Organisation (IHRO) and Punjab Istri Sabha marked the International Women’s Day celebrations here today.
At Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, Model Town, the local wing of IHRO organised a seminar in which Ms Amarjit Kaur Bhullar, member, Punjab State Women Commission, was the chief guest and Dr Inderjeet Kaur, Chairperson, Pingalwara, Amritsar, was the guest of honour.
Ms Anup Kaur Bansal, Principal, welcomed guests and said the day was being celebrated to bring awareness among the girl students regarding atrocities committed on them by society. She said even though times have changed and girls have been given more liberty but much more needs to be done.
Dr Kanwaljit K. Bal, president of the Women Wing of IHRO, said women should not be considered inferior to men. Quoting examples from Gurbani, she said our gurus taught equality of sex but society fails to accept the fact. She said dowry system and female foeticide were largely prevalent in the society and education was the only solution to these problems.
Dr Sukhwant Kaur Mann, Dean, College of Home Science, Punjab Agricultural University, said that since most women were working today, men should support their wives in household chores. She said that husbands should not expect much from their wives and give them the freedom to take their own decisions. Others who spoke on the occasion were Dr D.S. Gill, President of the local unit of IHRO,and Ms Kuldip Kaur, former principal, Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Istri Sabha organised a seminar at Vikas Nagar here today. Dr Chanchal Gupta from Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, said that women should fight for their rights and in case they were ill-treated for dowry or molested, they should not hesitate to report to the police.
Dr Rajinder Kaur, Civil Surgeon, said that education could bring about women empowerment. She said educated mothers can bring about proper physical, mental, moral and spiritual development among their children, thereby leading to positive change in the social scenario.
DORAHA
Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, celebrated International Women’s Day on Friday. Speaking on the occasion, Principal Jaswant Singh Gill said a lot has been done for women liberation but much remains to be done in this direction. “Women belonging to the weaker section of society cannot focus on their individual rights. They need to be educated so that they may became financially sound and individually strong,” he said. Prof Kuldip Singh stressed the need of taking steps to check female foeticide.
KHANNA
A programme to make women aware of their rights was organised at Gurdwara Kalgidhar Sahib by Nari Chetna Manch Punjab here today.
The programme was attended by a large number women from the city and the surrounding villages.
Mrs Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal, ex MP, and president Nari Chetna Manch Punjab while addressing the function said that the development of a good society depended upon women. She appealed women to help each other whenever they faced problems.
In another function organised at the local Civil Hospital, a calendar about the rights of women was released by the Punjab State Human Rights Commission and Indian Non-Government organisations.
Dr Kamaljit Singh of WHO, Gursharnjit Singh, Secretary General of Apex Body of NGOs, Dr Dharmpal SMO and Dr P.D. Singla were among those present.
Dutt/Khurd/Mod/6.20
SIDHWAN KHURD
Dr Rajeev Gupta, Consultant Psychiatrist at Manas, a Psychologi-cal and De-addiction Centre, gave a talk on ‘Psychological Problems of Women’ to the students and faculty of the Khalsa College of Women here today.
While addressing the audience, Dr Gupta stressed the need for education and professional training in preparing the girls for the future. He advised the students to face life boldly and solve the problems as they appear in life.
