Chennai: Her biggest challenges were patriarchy and bureaucracy. “In India, women make up around 49.2 per cent of the total population. If women are allowed to participate in the economic growth like men, our GDP could go up by 5 to 6 per cent. There are scores of women in unorganised sectors such as agriculture and fishing,” said Lalitha Kumaramangalam, chairperson, National Commission for Women.
She talked about how women need to stand up for women. “In India, banking is the only sector where many women are at the top. There are many women in the public sector but only a few come to leadership roles.”
She also expressed her displeasure at how R.K. Pachauri was promoted to be the executive vice chaiman of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) after a sexual harassment case was filed him. “Naina Lal Kidwai, a woman herself, was on the board which pushed for that promotion,” she added.
The NCW has recently undertaken training for women personnel. Around 160 women police officers from Delhi and Chandigarh were given training under it.
“Women in the police service remain unaware of laws. In the name of training they are taught the who’s who and how to salute at them.” The problem, she added, is that women are unaware of laws. It is the lack of knowledge that the system uses against them be it in rape cases or domestic violence.
“Most of the women don’t even know what is written in an FIR, and they end up signing it without reading it. The law is twisted, women should be made aware of that.” She also spoke about the selective judgement offered by the system. “Sanjay Dutt’s sentence was cut short. If it was poor man, he would have been dead in an encounter.”
She also said that many of the crimes, especially rapes and honor killings go uninvestigated on the name of ‘lack of evidence.’ “In Villupuram deaths, there is definitely foul play. There was no water in the lungs of the girls, which means there bodies were dumped in the well after their deaths. The poor father of one of the girls kept saying how can all three have their hands tied, if at all they committed suicide, but no one has paid heed,” she added.
As an advice to women who want to make it a happy journey to be a leader, she said “Never compromise on your way to the top.” When asked if she prefers Delhi over Chennai, she said: “It is a mad rush in Delhi, I will always prefer Chennai.”
