Bengaluru: “Women have made positive changes at the grassroots level and it is very evident in the statistics compared to the last two decades. Although there is a long way to go in empowering women, we are sure this positive trend will continue,” said Margaret Alva, former union minister and governor in a panel discussion organised by Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) and British Deputy High Commission of Bengaluru, to mark International Women’s Day.
#BalanceForBetter, the theme of the programme, called for collective action and shared responsibility for driving a more gender-balanced world by creating gender-balanced institutions, media and workplaces.
Another discussion, ‘Women in Public Policy and Politics’, came next, moderated by Revathy Ashok, with Ms Alva, Rajya Sabha member Professor M.V. Rajeev Gowda, Vanditha Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government and Developmental Commissioner, GoK, Vijayalakshmi Bidari, IAS and Chevening Scholar and journalist Dhanya Rajendran. All the panelists collectively voiced an opinion strongly to support women’s participation in decision making in politics, administration and public policy.
Rajeev Gowda, MP Rajya Sabha said, “Indian women in leadership was a successful initiative in terms of bringing more women leaders into politics and we intend to take it to every corner off this country because of there an innate need for progressive initiatives like these”.
Dominic McAllister, British Deputy High Commission, Bengaluru, delivered the welcome address, followed by Revathy Ashok, Hon Managing Trustee & CEO, B.PAC, who presented the findings from the study conducted by B.PAC title- Analysis of Participation of women in politics.
“B.PAC along with British Deputy High Commission, Bengaluru curated this program to positively influence society and the system, highlighting the participation of wo men and emphasizing the challenges they face across the spectrum of public life,” said Revathy Ashok, CEO, B.PAC.
