New Delhi, July 24 (ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil hosted a lunch for a group of more than 100 children, all of them from the underprivileged sections of society and some of them orphans in the Banquet Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.
The children were from Bal Vikas Vidyalaya, Bachchon Ka Ghar, Arya Orphanage, Nehru Bal Samiti and Literacy India.
A Rashtrapti Bhavan press release said that the President wanted these children to have an opportunity to see Rashtrapati Bhavan and have the privilege to be treated to a lunch in the Banquet Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, where banquets are hosted for the Heads of State.
Welcoming the children, the President said that they are the future of the nation and urged them to study hard.
Patil said that education is the key to development of societies and when you educate a girl child, you educate a family.
The President emphasised on the need for children to imbibe good moral values.
The children asked various questions ranging from education of children, sports and recreation, the President's Vision for India, how to balance tradition with modernity, her expectations from children and child nutrition.
The President joined the children for lunch for which the menu was tomato soup, butter chicken, Goan fish curry, paneer pasanda, lauki ka kofta, gobhi kajoo, moong dal and peas pulao, naan and parantha. The meal was rounded off with gulab jamun and mango ice cream.
The children were also treated to live music with such tunes as 'Nanhe Munne', 'Maana Janab', 'Lambada', and 'Ankhon Mein Teri'.
President meets eminent women, discusses women's empowerment
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil met a group of eminent women at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday and discussed issues relating to women's empowerment.
Professor Amita Singh (Educationist), Justice (Retd) Leela Seth (Former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh), Dr. Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath (Scientist, Professor), Dr. Ranjana Kumari (Women's Welfare), Prema Cariappa (Social Welfare), Dr. Mohini Giri (Social Welfare), Tesse Thomas (Scientist), Dr. Kapila Vatsyanan (Member of Parliament and Scholar), Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee (Social Worker) and Dr. Shyamalha Pappu (Lawyer) were among those invited for the interaction.
It was the first ever meeting held by a President with a women's group of eminent persons.
The President said that women played an important role in our Freedom Movement and in the post Independence era, the have begun to make a mark on national life especially through the Panchayati Raj Movement, which is a landmark. However, although women in urban environments have made their mark in society, women in our rural areas continue to face difficulties.
Patil emphasised on the efficient implementation of laws, which give women their rights as well as the delivery mechanism of these laws. She praised the role of NGOs and appreciated their initiatives. She also hoped that women with experience on such issues should give a feed back on how best to empower women and to work together to fulfill the aspirations and ambitions of women.
Various suggestions were made during the meeting such as:- database on women Ph. Ds, who are not working, as many of them cannot pursue careers due to family commitments.
"These women are human resources, which is lost to the nation. Similarly, the need to utilise women agricultural scientists, ways in which out of the box solutions can be found for them to pursue their careers without sacrificing family duties, such as flexi career planning, the need to change mindsets in work places and in families," she said.
Other issues discussed were:- the issue of national policy for war widows, providing free education to children affected by insurgency in the North East and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the need to sensitise teachers in Municipal schools to gender issues, mainstreaming of children from the North East and Jammu and Kashmir into the national mainstream, the need for awakening the male population to the gender issues regarding women, more educational opportunities for women and their utilization, problems of women in rural areas and the mapping of districts in which twenty to thirty percent of girls are literate so that they can be identified for specially focused programmes.
The group of eminent women appreciated the invitation extended to them by the President and said that, "The President represents grace and compassion - a woman of their ideals". (ANI)
