Bhubaneswar: Several City-based organisations, societies and others celebrated International Women’s Day here Monday with great enthusiasm and with focus on role of women during COVID-19 pandemic among others. Orissa POST takes a glance at the celebrations:
‘Ride for Women’s Pride’
A group of women motorcyclists, ‘WE -The Road Queens’, in association with Commissionerate Police, Bhubaneswar organised a bike rally titled ‘Ride For Women’s Pride’ to mark the contribution of women during COVID-19 pandemic.
To mark the special day, 12 women bikers dressed in white kurti, blue jeans and donning orange turban rode motorcycles from Commissionerate Police office to Mahila Cell in Unit-I via Jaydev Vihar Square-Acharya Vihar Square- Vani Vihar Square-Rupali Square via Sahid Nagar- Ram Mandir Square- Master Canteen Square to Rajmahal Square.
The bike ride was flagged of by twin city Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi.
Co-founder of ‘WE-The Road Queens’ Sangeeta Sahoo said, “The ride named ‘Ride For Women’s Pride’ is to remember the exemplary role played by frontline women workers during COVID-19. Those who are in emergency services like doctors, health professionals, media personnel, teachers, mothers, wives and care takers to elderly parents at homes deserve praise.”
Daycare centre in Utkal campus
Vice-Chancellor of Utkal University Sabita Acharya celebrated the day with the announcement of setting up a daycare centre in the varsity campus. The move is part of the vision of enabling a gender neutral campus. The School of Women’s Studies organised the Women’s Day celebrations which was presided by the first woman VC, Acharya.
The daycare centre will be set up soon and will encourage young mothers to continue working. “The pandemic has widened the already existing gender gaps in the society. But it has also shown us the power of women leadership. Some of the countries which best managed the pandemic are led by women,” said Acharya citing examples of New Zealand, Taiwan and Germany among many others. “We cannot return to the old world anymore. We have to shatter the barriers and harness the power of women leadership,” she further added.
Virtual workshop at ILS
A four-week long virtual workshop on ‘Women Entrepreneurship’ was inaugurated at the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) here. The workshop supported by the Department of Science and Technology at the Centre aims to provide 30 women professionals selected from all over the country to orient them to different issues and challenges of business opportunity in the field of science and technology. The event was inaugurated by Anu Acharya, CEO, Map My Genome. In her address, she highlighted her experience and journey as a successful entrepreneur in the area of human genomics.
ILS director Ajay Parida mentioned about the significant contribution women have made in the area of science and technology as well as in taking science towards successful business enterprise. He urged the young women scientists to take up challenging scientific tasks using the exciting current opportunities.
RMRC director Sanghamitra Pati stressed the need for providing an enabling environment and encouraging platforms to make them successful in every field- be it science and technology or in startups and entrepreneurship.
NABARD focus on rural women
The Bhubaneswar branch of NABARD celebrated the International Women’s Day Monday on the theme ‘Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 World’. The event was graced by Aska Lok Sabha MP Pramila Bisoyi and Water Resources department deputy secretary Madhusmita Sahoo. Many women micro-entrepreneurs from 10 districts – Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Khurda, Nayagarh and Puri – who transformed themselves into ‘change agents’ and contributed to the overall development of the society were invited and felicitated.
NABARD Odisha Chief General Manager C Udayabhaskar shared in details various support schemes of NABARD for the development of rural women. He stressed upon the need to double the dosage of credit to women SHGs/entrepreneurs/ farmers in the ensuing financial year so that they can take up various remunerative livelihood activities and contribute to doubling their family income. He said that NABARD during the next financial year would develop 3,000 micro-entrepreneurs and extended financial support for construction of 15,000 toilets.
PNN