New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Women have been accorded top priority in every sphere, from budget preparation to law-making, Odisha Legislative Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy said on Monday, highlighting various measures taken to empower women at the grassroots and strengthen their participation in governance.
Addressing the All India Capacity Building Conference in New Delhi, Padhy said reservation at the Panchayat level has helped empower women at the grassroots.
She said around 70 lakh women have benefited through six lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under Mission Shakti. The government has extended all possible support to develop women’s SHGs as entrepreneurs across various sectors, she said.
Padhy also highlighted various initiatives aimed at improving the nutritional status of adolescent girls, saying these measures were being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and child mortality.
The Odisha government has also made arrangements to provide self-defence training to female students in 730 government and government-aided colleges and 16 universities across the state, she said.
The All India Capacity Building Conference is being held in Delhi over two days, September 7 and 8. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inaugurated the conference, while National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar delivered the welcome address.
Organised by the NCW, the conference aims to empower women by bringing them into the mainstream of society and strengthening and enriching democracy.
The programme focuses on developing leadership skills among women through training in writing skills, emotional communication, exchange of ideas and approaches to thinking.
As part of the initiative, the Women’s Commission has undertaken a programme to empower women legislators through training in gender-responsive governance.
For the first time, women legislators and women members of Legislative Councils from states across the country are participating in the conference.
The Odisha delegation, led by Speaker Surama Padhy, includes BJD Legislature Party Chief Whip Pramila Mallik and legislators Subasini Jena, Sujata Sahu, Seemarani Nayak, Manorama Mohanty, Sofia Firdous, Upasna Mohapatra and Barsha Singh Bariha, among others.
Assembly Research Officers Jaya Krishna Pradhan and Randhir Ray have also accompanied the delegation to Delhi.
