Chandigarh March 08, 2021
To mark the Week long celebrations of IWD, 2021; the Department cum Centre for Women’s Studies & Development(D.C.W.S.D), Panjab University, Chandigarh, organised a Panel Discussion on the theme, “How to achieve a Gender Equal World?” to celebrate women’s exemplary achievements, raise awareness against gender bias and gender inequality, take action for gender equality.
Prof. Rajesh Gill, Dean Research articulated that given all the constitutional and legislative provisions towards gender equality in India, it still continues to be a distant dream, given the ground reality. She added further that global data on parameters of gender equality place India in a dismal state. Referring to UN women’s IWD theme, 2021, she suggested that women in the country still continue to be far from the leadership positions, and the example of proxy leadership is already there in context of panchayats, where lakhs of women have entered as a result of reservation. She suggested that women should be capacitated with the modern skills and capabilities, financial and political inclusion, and freed from domestic drudgery to achieve gender equality.
Prof. Reicha Tanwar, Former Director, Women Studies Research Centre, K.U., Kurukshetra, argued forcefully that no country can progress in a real manner unless women are able to realize their full potentialities. She further asserted that gender equality is more than just a goal; it is a process in which the engagement of men, women, transgender, boys and girls is a prerequisite. She critiqued the male-centric society by arguing that changes in the society are superficial, and therefore, not sustainable. She concluded her gendered discourse by saying that redistribution of resources, restructuring of gender relations, restoration of decision making rights and subversion of cultural barriers can lead to the realization of dream of equitable and just society. She had also focused on multi pronged strategies to have gender inclusive society.
Ms. Prajakta Avhad, President- Samvedana (N.G.O.)from a civil society vantage point, opined that the idea of gender equal world may vary from individual to individual, private sphere to public sphere. Through her field-based experiences, she had observed that women’s right to a violence free world remains limited. She concluded her gendered discourse by saying that men needs to come forward to review and leave aside their privileges they get simply by being men. She called for a collective action on societal, familial front to have gender equality in society.
Ms. Mridul Mehndiratta, Founder- The Wealth Dialogues articulated that “not just society, but even as women we tend to put lot of limitations based on fictional beliefs on what we can dream of, achieve and pursue like, I won’t be able to play this sport, I won’t be able to drive, I won’t be able to manage the finances, I won’t be able to travel alone, I won’t be able to do this job”. Women tend to do so because they are compelled to comply with the societal norms on what they should be doing and on how they should make choices. These gender stereotypes are so innate and intrinsic to us that we don’t even realize that we are limiting ourselves subconsciously. As a community we need to raise awareness on these self imposed limiting beliefs that confine women in their scope of achievement.
Earlier, Dr. Rajesh Kumar Chander, Chairperson, in his welcome address, extended his gratitude to Prof. Raj Kumar, Patron & Chief-Guest, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University for his support and encouragement for the organising this event. He further highlighted various achievements of the department since its inception in the year 1987. The department is focusing on research, with more than thirty research scholars currently on rolls of the department, about twelve have been awarded Ph.D. degrees, including foreign student and male students. The Department is currently running five innovative programmes, including two masters’ programmes and actively pursuing outreach, extension and dissemination.
The panel discussion saw participation of more than 70 participants, from across disciplines & IDC. The panel discussion was followed by detailed deliberations. The two hours long interaction, was attended online by a large number of faculty members, students from across disciplines.
