TEZU, Feb 24: Indira Gandhi Government College (IGGC) here in Lohit district on Monday organized a national conference on ‘Issues and challenges of women empowerment in 21st century’.
Sponsored by the National Commission for Women, the event featured deliberations on the theme by resource persons from different parts of the country and key functionaries of the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women (APSCW).
In his inaugural address, IGGC Principal, Dr Kangki Megu, said the process of women empowerment in Arunachal’s tribal society “is primarily rooted in the state institutions,” and underscored the need for a “viable women movement as well as enhancement of women literacy” in order to make the process of women empowerment in the state sustainable.
The college’s English professor, Mikta Mansai, highlighted the importance of a “framework to address the emerging challenges of women empowerment,” while Dibrugarh University’s commerce professor, Dr Ajanta Borogohain Rajkonowar, spoke on the need to “improve socioeconomic, nutritional health and intellectual status of women with adequate constitutional safeguards.”
She also called for “more women positions in power and entrepreneurship,” and “dismantling the glass ceiling in the existing social structure.”
APSCW Chairperson Radhilu Chai Techi outlined various strategies for empowering women in the 21st century; Dr Debika Saha from the North Bengal University analyzed the “theoretical contours from a feminist standpoint”; Dr Ujithra Ponniah from Hyderabad-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences discussed “women empowerment from developmental perspective”; Dr Madhurima Goswami from Tezpur University examined “women studies in higher education system in India”; and two research scholars from Nagaland University spoke on the role of women in agricultural development.
