Our mothers, sisters, daughters have become vulnerable to the anti-social elements, who seem to be on the prowl all the time. There have been several cases of rape, kidnapping and murder of the girls across the country and more so in Goa of late.
There was a case of gang rape in Benaulim recently while a girl’s body was found in a “questionable” condition at Calangute beach this week.
This has put a huge question mark on the safety of women in Goa.
Why can’t we change this mentality? Why should a girl or woman think twice before moving out of the house? Why can’t we expect the Government to provide security to our women?
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemakrponn
As we celebrate 75 years of freedom, are our women free yet?
On Sunday, the country will celebrate 74 years of Independence and march into the 75th year.
Indeed, India has made immense progress since August 15, 1947.
Today, India has carved a niche from being labelled the country of snake charmers to the leading nation in IT, pharmaceuticals, and many more sectors.
As we step into the 75th year of Independence, we need to feel proud and celebrate that we were one of the leading nations to come out with COVID19 vaccines to save the world. The vaccine has not only benefited the country but has also been supplied to needy nations. Of Course, the issue is being debated hotly whether the vaccines should have been provided to other nations when people were dying here.
While India moves fast even during this pandemic, several issues need to be considered, especially faced by our women.
There is no official data to reflect the number of work women actually do to enable their families to survive. Be it household work or a working woman, their contribution is always considered redundant. Such is the mentality even today after 74 years.
Unwanted girl child…
Even 74 years after Independence, the girl child is unwanted. Married couples and in-laws want a boy instead of a girl.
Recently, in our Goa too, which is considered a literate State, a baby boy was stolen by a lady from the Goa Medical College.
Further, after being arrested, the lady revealed that she had four daughters and desperately wanted a baby boy. So this is the mentality in India and Goa still after 74 years.
This was one story about an unwanted girl child, but it is not the girls’ issue today.
Our mothers, sisters, daughters
have become vulnerable…
Our mothers, sisters, daughters have become vulnerable to the anti-social elements, who seem to be on the prowl all the time. There have been several cases of rape, kidnapping and murder of the girls across the country and more so in Goa of late.
There was a case of gang rape in Benaulim recently while a girl’s body was found in a “questionable” condition at Calangute beach this week.
This has put a huge question mark on the safety of women in Goa.
Why can’t we change this mentality? Why should a girl or woman think twice before moving out of the house? Why can’t we expect the Government to provide security to our women?
The mentality will not change unless there is stringent punishment and there is a fear of law amongst the anti-social elements.
Women power is displayed in Melauli…
As we celebrated the 74th year of our Independence Day, let us not forget that women are still fighting for their freedom, liberty, and justice somewhere in interior India and Goa.
They are fighting for not just themselves but also their family and society, which makes them unique. And this is why we must pay respect to the unconditional contribution women have made, from raising children to maintaining households, from working in the day to looking after their family in the evening.
In the Melauli protest, we saw the women have led the agitation from the front and did not step back despite the violence and finally got justice.
They showed the power of women from rural Goa.
Top in education, but Govt has
filed a case against this girl…
Pooja Melekar from Shel-Melauli, who participated in the protest against the IIT project coming up in her village, secured the highest marks in Analytical Chemistry subject in her college — Ravi S Naik College of Arts and Science Farmagudi, Ponda.
The State government had filed criminal cases against some of Melauli youth, including Pooja, during the agitation. The youth from the village have now requested Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to withdraw the criminal cases against them.
Pooja has been awarded the “Smt Olga De Souza Cash Prize” instituted by Brenda Dias Barreto for securing the highest marks in the subject of Analytical Chemistry at the TYBSc examination conducted by the Goa University during the Academic year 2019-20.
Beti Bachoao Beti Padhao
The trend of declining sex ratio from 945 in 1991 to 918 in 2011 has been a significant cause of concern. To address this challenge and enhance girl-child literacy, Prime Minister Modi launched the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao in 2015. Notwithstanding the difficulties towards its implementation and delivery, the program has helped increase access to education to empower the girl child.