Governor deplores gap between goals and real status

Chennai, Mar 9 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala today deplored the wide gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution for advancement of women and their real status in the country.

In his address at the celebration of International Women's Day, organised by Sakhi Mandal Sahyog at the Raj Bhavan, he said the Constitution not only granted equality to women but also empowered the states to adopt positive discrimination policies in favour of women.

Within the framework of a democratic polity, the laws, development policies, plans and programmes had aimed at women's advancement in different spheres. However, in urban areas, women were mostly portrayed as decorative show pieces in advertisements and hoardings, he added.

''They are portrayed as weaker sex, secondary and mere appendages to men in the films and most of the advertisements. I think this negative portrayal of women leads to inferiority complex among them,' he observed.

Mr Barnala regretted that women were still exploited and absued despite legal and constitutional protection to them. ''Women living in remote villages are still, uneducated and backward.

They are not aware of their rights and privileges and are economically depended on men,'' he said.

Women SHGs had opened new vistas of opportunities for women in rural India to come out of their homes and face the competitive world with confidence, the Governor said.

Earlier, inaugurating a seminar on 'Road to Empowerment- Where are We?' he exhorted women organisations and feminist groups to be a driving force towards empowerment of women.

UNI AKN VV CS RK2030