Indian govt committed to women's empowerment: Renuka tells Rice

New Delhi, Sep 28 (UNI) ''The present Indian Government is committed for the empowerment of women and has taken up several initiatives in the recent past in this direction,'' Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in New York today.

Ms Chowdhury told Ms Rice during a meeting that Indian women could boast of the achievements, which are still dreams for the women in some of the developed countries. India has a women as head of the State and its women are leading different fields whether it is education, business or science.

Ms Chowdhury is in New York to participate in the third meeting of Women Leaders' Working Group convened by Ms Rice to discuss women's empowerment issues such as education, political and economic empowerment and access to justice.

The working group is comprised of about 40 women leaders including women heads of States and Ministers from across the globe.

The meeting is being held on the margins of the UN General Assembly at New York on the theme of the 'Progress on Women's Empowerment'.

Ms Chowdhury apprised other participants also about challenges and opportunities before the Indian women and how they have succeeded in overcoming traditional hurdles and made significant achievements in various fields.

The Women Leaders' working group was constituted in 2006 by Ms Rice and it meets intermittently to discuss current challenges to women's empowerment and strategies to address them.

UNI