'India can't progress unless women are given equal opportunities in all spheres': VP Naidu

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday asserted that India cant make progress unless women are given equal opportunities in all spheres, including political arena.

He also said that re is a need to show in action and in deeds that discrimination longer exists in Indian society.

In a Facebook post, he once again urged all political parties to arrive at a consensus on long-pending proposal for providing equate reservation to women in Parliament and state legislatures at earliest.

Women Reservation Bill, which sought to provide reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state legislatures, was passed by Rajya Sabha. But it lapsed following dissolution of 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.

"With women constituting about 50 per cent of India's population, we cant make progress unless y are given equal opportunities in all spheres, including political arena," he said.

vice president ted that India's culture has always accorded respect to women and treated m as equals.

"In Vedic times, re were learned women like Maitreyi, Gargi, Ghosha and Vishwatara, who enjoyed equal status to that of men and used to participate in debates. Respecting women, recognising ir talent and contribution has been an Indian way of life," he said.

re is also a long history of unparalleled accomplishments of many outstanding women like Prabhavati, daughter of Chandra Gupta II, who performed ministrative duties in her kingdom and Razia Sultana, only woman monarch to rule Delhi, he said.

"We have a long list of women achievers, who broke glass ceiling and brought laurels to nation. Unfortunately, over centuries, re has been a grual erosion of core values of our culture and abhorrent practices like preference to son over a girl child have crept into social fabric leing to inhuman criminal acts of female foeticide and female infanticide," Naidu lamented.

re should be zero tolerance towards any kind of discrimination or violence against girls and women, he stressed.

"Undoubtedly, flagship scheme 'Beti Bachao, Beti Phao' has created a positive impact. But much more needs to be done to change societal mindset. re should be a national movement on women's empowerment and to ensure that girl child is out of school," he said.

"It is high time we give girls and women ir due in society and leave stone unturned to empower m," he said. 

Im Credits: PTI