Fighting gender bias

International Women's Day should not end by celebrating it just for a day. We need to hammer into the minds of the people about the need to end gender discrimination.

India has a rich culture. We have historical evidence that women had played a very big role in India. But as slowly there has been a change in the perception of the people. And now the gender discrimination has reached a new high.

A woman has to face thousands of questions and any number of restrictions are imposed on her. She should not talk loudly, she should not express her opinion freely, should get married, bear children and also take upon the entire burden of running the house and even get quietly suffer to humiliation by husband and other family members.

The situation is much more difficult if a woman is single irrespective of her age says Neelakshi, Child Development Project Officer Assam. Simply don't say you respect women by opening the car door for them or saying women first or don't give lectures saying women are equal, all that is nothing but a show.

Put your hand on your heart, sit with a cool mind and think in your own house how much freedom and respect women get and how much do you agree with their suggestions. Think do you give a chance to express their views.

Do you ponder over what they say? Gender discrimination is there across the globe but much more in India. In West except medically needed and handicapped have special seats in public transport systems. Here we have to allocate special seats for women in the name of safety. The question of safety arises because men exhibit animal instinct.

Neelakshi had joined Integrated Child Development Services in 1985 and from 2009 has been working in Bodoland from 2009. She is known for her to dedicate work in tribal and tea garden areas of Bodoland. Her hard work resulted in the Udalguri district receive the award for organizing ECCE day in 2019.

ECCE provides a platform to the functionaries of the center and the parents/ community in which activities are organised for advocacy, awareness generation and establishing a partnership for optimum development of children.