Vijay Mari Technical Institute marks Int’l Women’s Day with Motto ‘PressForProgress’
Vijay Mari Technical Institute and Community College, Mary Hill-Mangaluru in association with staff and students of Vidya Jyothi School, Jyothinagar, Kunjathbail-Mangaluru mark International Women’s Day with Motto ‘PressForProgress’, with a grand celebration held at the roof-top premises of Vidya Jyothi School amidst Convent sisters, Students and their parents.
Mangaluru: International Women’s Day, as the name implies, is dedicated to celebrating womanhood, their social, political, cultural, economic achievements and their significant contributions to society. The day also emphasises the importance of gender equality. Today, people from all across the world came together to partake in the celebration of womanhood. The day has come to be increasingly associated with feminism and equal rights for women. Every year, March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day, and this year, the theme is #PressforProgress- and for that matter, the staff and students of Vijay Mari Technical Institute and Communal college, Mary Hill-Mangaluru in association with the staff and students of Vidya Jyothi School, Vidyanagar-Mangaluru marked ‘Women’s Day’ in great fervour and fun.
The programme began with a prayer dance by the young students of Vidya Jyothi School, followed by welcome address and introduction of guests by Sr Marie Joyce- Principal of Vijay Mari Technical Institute and Community College. The Chief guests for the occasion were Ms Violet Pereira- Proprietor & Editor-in-Chief of Mangalorean.com; and Ms Soujanya Hegde- TV/Radio Anchor and Mrs.Popular- Mrs.India Worldwide 2017, Other dignitaries joined with them were- Sr Premika AC – Headmistress, Vidya Jyothi Primary school, Sr Asha AC- Superior of Jyothi Nivas-Vidyanagar; Sr Vijaya AC- Headmistress, Vidya Jyothi High School; and Sr Marie Joyce AC.
Following a dance and a skit on a topic pertaining to “Mother’s Love towards her Son”, one of the chief guests of the day, Ms Violet Pereira in her address to the gathering said, “Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai famously quoted “I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”, and that sentiment precisely outlines the basis of new age women empowerment. It is time that we women also raise our voices for our rights. We should not be confined only to our kitchen job- we need freedom also and social life. Discrimination against women is rampant all over the world, and we need to unite and try to stop it”.
“Couple of years ago I founded a Trust named “Parivarthan Trust”, where I worked hard to give new life to the neglected Transgenders in the society, and to bring them to the mainstream. Even though I received threats, criticisms on social media and web etc for my social work towards these Transgenders- some even commented that this Trust what I started was for money making-which is far from the truth. I am happy that these transgenders who were paying hefty money to their so-called “Boss” have stopped doing it after this Trust came to their rescue. Many of these Transgenders have either taken up tailoring or beautician courses- they now have Aadhar cards, open bank accounts- and I am glad that the Trust that I founded has benefited a lot to them. These transgenders are also human beings- so we need to respect them like we treat others. Coming 12 March the Trust will be celebrating ‘Transgenders Day’- a Day that was originated last year in Mangaluru”.
“Even though about 50% of India’s population consists of women, but unfortunately most of them are denied basic rights education, freedom of speech, voting power and even independent identity. Crimes directed specifically against women are reported from all over the country, in our state and locally. There still remain questions about acceptance of women empowerment. Even though we have taken enormous strides towards inclusion of women with the fairer gender excelling in diverse fields, from literature to astrophysics to finance, but lot more has to be done Empowerment of women would mean encouraging women to be self-reliant, economically independent, have positive self-esteem, generate confidence to face any difficult situation and invite active participation in various socio-political development endeavors. The growing conscience is to accept women as individuals capable of making rational and educated decisions about them as well as the society, increasing and improving the economic, political and legal strength of the women, to ensure equal-right as men, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for their families and communities. Let us fight for Women’s rights, and make us equally among men”, added Ms Violet.
Also speaking on the occasion, Ms Soujanya Hegde said, “I am extremely happy to be amidst such a large female gathering, and including a bunch of boys? While we are celebrating ‘Women’s day’ I would stress that a woman has the right to express her thoughts and opinions freely, without any restriction. Individual empowerment may be achieved by imparting self-confidence to articulate and assert the power of independent decision making. Women should be aware of their rights and social positions that they are entitled to constitutionally. The most critical aspect of social empowerment of women is the promotion of gender equality. Gender equality implies that in society women and men enjoy the same opportunities, outcomes, rights and obligations in all spheres of life.”
“We see there have been quite a few moral policing taking place in our city- but why? Everyone has the freedom to walk with the opposite sex. Why someone has to control your movements. Women need to speak up and raise their voices against such men cruelty and assault over women/girls. Women should also get their rights just like men. There should also be Educational Empowerment of Women, which means enabling women to grab the knowledge, skills, and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. Giving preference to the girl child for educational opportunities is a start. Also Economic and Occupational Freedom” said Ms Hegde.
Ms Hegde further said, “Also Empowerment Through Legal Knowledge; and Political Empowerment of Women. The law says that The citizen, men & women equally have the right to an adequate means of livelihood. One of the duties of every citizen is to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of woman.The need of the hour is an egalitarian society, where there should be no place for gender superiority. The aim of Government policies should be to identify and eliminate forces that are directed towards keeping the tradition of male dominance over its female counterpart alive. Women constitute roughly 50% of the nation’s population and a majority of them remain economically dependent, without employment. Women are generally considered less competent, both intellectually as well as physically as compared with men. As a result, the opportunities extended towards them become biased and obtrusive without an actual evaluation of their competencies. Enough is enough, women should stand up and raise their voices for fair and equal rights. Period”.
Teacher Louise Matilda Martis delivered the opening remarks, while Teacher Seraphine Lucy proposed the vote of thanks and also compered the programme. The students of Vijay Mari performed a scintillating dance and a song, both with the themes referred to Womanhood. it was indeed perfect tribute paid to the energetic and strong women who are also capable of serving the society. A job well done by the staff and students of Vijay Mari Technical Institute and community College, and also Vidya Jyothi School. Long Live the WOMEN!
