Wempower salutes women in forefront of Covid fight

Bengaluru: The second edition of Orion Wempower, the women's day festival that focuses on celebrating real life women achievers who made a difference during Covid times was held at Orion by Brigade, on Sunday.

A special felicitation programme was organised to salute the courage and compassion of these women and recognize their contribution during the peak of the pandemic in the city. The festival was curated by Sreemoyee Piu Kundu, a columnist on gender and sexuality and was presided over by Nirupa Shankar, Executive Director, Brigade Enterprises.

"Orion Wempower was conceptualised to celebrate and showcase remarkable achievements of women on Women's Day every year, and this year we thought it apt to recognise the efforts of women champions who made a difference during the COVID-19 lockdown last year.

We are in awe of the acts of kindness displayed by these women, and it was our privilege to give them a platform to share their experiences during those very difficult times. I am glad that Wempower enabled us to come together and acknowledge their achievements.

We also look at this event as an inspiration for fellow women to go beyond themselves and help create an inclusive world. More importantly, women empowerment has always been of utmost importance to us at Brigade Group, evident in the diverse, significant roles that women have within the company.

We are really proud of our women Brigadiers who have stood strong and been resilient throughout this tough year." said Nirupa Shankar, Executive Director, Brigade Enterprises. The women champions who were felicitated include Roopa D, senior IPS officer; Kavitha Lankesh, film director; Dr Sandhya Raghu, Doctor, BMCRI Super-Specialty Hospital; Premila Andrews, President, Air Force Wives Welfare Association; Susan Timothy, International Life Coach; Moya Caddy, Early Childhood Educator; Arundhati Ghosh, Executive Director, India Foundation for the Arts; Srijana Pradhan, Nurse in Aster CMI Hospital; Madhumitha Venkataraman, Diversity & Inclusion Evangelist; Vieshaka L Dutta, HR professional and leads Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) for India at Publicis Sapient; Aparna Vedapuri Singh, Founder and CEO of Women's Web and Andaleeb Wajid, Author.

The event also witnessed a panel discussion which was moderated by Sreemoyee Piu Kundu and featured Kavitha Lankesh, Roopa D and Dr Sandhya Raghu who deliberated on the different issues faced by women and ways to overcome them.

Speaking at the event, Roopa D said, "It feels wonderful to be honoured and celebrated by Orion Malls, as part of the Wempower 2021 initiative celebrating women champions.

As per a GO issued in August 2020, the Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka had formed 8 teams involving an IAS and an IPS officer in each team to ensure the availability of 50% beds in private hospitals for government for Covid patients. Rates for treatment of Covid patients were also fixed by the government.

My team was the first and only team to ensure check exorbitant pricing by some private hospitals.

I conducted raids and ensured that the excess payment collected by these hospitals from 40 patients (total Rs.1.6 crore) was refunded to the patients. I am glad that I have been able to make a difference in the lives of these people."