GUWAHATI:
Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, on May 9, said that Rs 9,000 crore fund has been evaluated under the Centre’s Nirbhaya Scheme to address the issue of women trafficking in the country.
Irani made the announcement during a virtual interaction with the director of the Centre for Women Studies, Madhurima Goswami at Chandraprabha Saikiani Centre for Women Studies, at Tezpur University.
“Before 2014 not even a single penny was spent from the fund. The ministry of WCD and NIMHANS has collaborated to help the women and children who have been victims of violence. A rapid transport system in metro cities has been funded, women help desks at all police stations, forensic kits, and trafficking bills have been under work,” she said.
Notably, Irani was scheduled to deliver the Tilottoma Barooah Memorial Lecture and present Tilottoma Barooah Memorial Award on Monday, but she could not attend the programme.
Giving a tribute to eminent educationist Tilottama Barooah, she said, “Tilottama Barooah’s main stay was education. It was one of the most poignant contributions that made her stand out. The fact that she was multi-faceted yet grounded, speaks a lot about her persona.”
Later Rajya Sabha MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa conferred the Tilottoma Barooah Memorial Award to Hemlata Baruah. Diganta Baruah, nephew of Baruah, received the award in her absentia.
Concerning the sexual harassment of women in the workplace, the union minister pointed out that the citizens need to be conscious regarding their protection of rights. The legislature has done its job and the polity cannot be blamed for everything. When asked why history has always been silent about women, she said, “In our ancient civilisation, women have always been held equal to men. After many invasions, the agenda of putting women behind the purdah to protect them became the mainstream practice.”
The union minister also spoke extensively on the changes brought about in the New Education Policy about girl students. She said that the gender inclusion fund has been added to NEP. Importance is being given to local languages and technical education in local languages which remains a gap in the system.