'Women in India are yet to get their due rights,' says Harsimrat Kaur Badal
Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal inaugurated the two day 'One Globe Forum 2018' on February 9 at Hotel Imperial in New Delhi. She began by saying that she is "indeed happy to be a part of a non political atmosphere." Speaking at the 7th Annual One Globe Forum, Harsimrat Kaur Badal spoke about women's rights and said that if women are encouraged and are provided with enough opportunities, they are capable of making a humongous contribution to the country's economy. The Union Minister said, 'The life for women in our country is still a struggle, a major patriarchal set back indeed. The right of equality is a farfetched dream in a country that speaks volumes of development and progress.' She added, 'we will make every effort to do whatever is in our control to bring women the rights they deserve.' 'Women are yet to contribute their full potential towards nation building; we are far from getting our due. If women were to contribute and given equality, the global GDP along with the economics of each country would drastically improve,' 'We have a lot to learn from many countries' she added. 'In our country everybody needs to contribute to ensure gender equality, because we still come from a nation where there is a bias in the mind set. Every 12 minutes a girl is kidnapped, 15 minutes raped and in every 1 hour there is a dowry death.' Harsimrat Kaur Badal said, 'Girls have to fight a battle, millions are killed even before they are born. But if at all they get the right of birth, the struggle with the biases and the mind set begins. Majority are not even given the right to take birth, the ones who do have to wrestle all life for basic rights to live, let alone equality of rights.' Nevertheless, she said, 'It gives me immense pride and proud to see the rural india changing despite all odds' Sharing the moments of her meeting with the team of Under 19 Khelo India, she said, 'Girls belonging to the rural areas of India had adorned gold Medal, this shows that girls are no less in any field and they are capable of creating a glorious future in the country.' 'I realized how deep rooted the problem is, when I had my own second girl child. That's when I realized if people around me are so biased, what would the rest of the nation be going through', she added. 'Girls are trying to succeed, to move out and beyond the limitations and their parents are supporting them to brighten their lives with a successful future, I am thankful to such courageous families,' she added. The 7th annual edition of the One Globe Forum will specifically focus on ideas, issues and impact of initiatives like 'Digital India', 'Make in India', 'Skill India', 'Women's Economic Empowerment', 'Smart Cities', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Blockchain' and 'Big Data' that can help transform India into a 21st century knowledge economy. -PTC News
