Lakshmi goes without money and Saraswati sans education

Hyderabad, Mar. 07 - We name our female children after Goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga but in real life we deprive them of money, education and power, lamented social worker Chandana Chakavaorty. Another social worker Kanthimati Kannan pointed out that boys imbibe the culture of looking down upon girls right at home, and woman continues to be the first enemy of woman.

They were taking part in International Women’s Day celebrations organized by the Mahila Satta at the Lok Satta office here today. Mrs. Kantimati Kannan appealed to women to stop whiling away their time watching TV serials and take active interest in politics for transforming society.

Mrs. S. Manorama, Mahila Satta leader, said the time has come for women to bury the notion that they cannot work together because of deeply ingrained jealousies. Mrs. Manorama said that traditional parties let down women by giving only token representation in elected positions. They have also failed to reserve one-third of seats in legislatures to women for the last 10 years. In contrast, the Lok Satta Party has reserved one-third of positions in the party to women and has decided to field women in one-third of the constituencies in the Assembly elections. Only by entering politics, women can play a key role in policy issues and provide equal opportunities to women in all fields.

Mrs. D. Saroja, Mahila Satta Secretary, said the organization had launched a movement against belt shops in villages as it was the women who bore the brunt of the liquor evil.

The speakers, who included D. Lakshmi, Subhashini, Sujata, Padmavati, Maharani, Rambai and Neeraja Devi, appealed to women to shed their indifference to politics and work actively for women empowerment.