Our Focus is not Fighting Men, but Working Together and Generating Equal Opportunities : Prof. Saraswati Setia
The Centre of Management and Humanities at Punjab Engineering College (Deemed to be University), Chandigarh today celebrated International Women's Day on 7th March, 2024. The Chief Guest of the event Prof. Saraswati Setia, Department of Civil Engineering at NIT Kurukshetra, along with the Women Achievers Dr. Kanchan Bhardwaj, Dr. Deepika Saluja, Dr. Aparna Akula, Ms. Seema Garttan and Advocate Ritu Punj graced the occasion with their esteemed presence. Dr. Anju Singla (Head, CMH), Dr. Nidhi Tanwar (Faculty, CMH) along with all the members of faculty and students were present at this occasion. The event began with the formal welcome of esteemed dignitaries and followed by lighting of the auspicious lamp.
International Women's Day holds immense importance as we come together to celebrate the achievement, dedication, resilience and contributions of Women who have greatly influenced their fields, inspiring others and overcoming challenges.
Dr. Singla, welcomed the chief guest and all the esteemed women achievers of the day. She said that we have seen women breaking the barriers, 76th Republic Day Parade celebrated Naari Shakti with 30,000 women marking it as the women-centric parade. Lastly, she wished everyone and said that 'We all are gathered here to mark the presence of this International Women's Day 2024'.
While addressing the gathering, Advocate Ritu Punj, said that International Women's Day marks a day to remember Women's rights. As an Advocate, she talked about her judicial experience as a woman. She also raised the question of Women Equality in all the fields. Dr. Deepika Saluja, Co-founder of Women in Global Health; shed light on some hard-hitting points. She said that Women Equality will be marked that day, when Women will rule half the world and Men will rule half the home. She also raised questions on the part of the organisational structures who need to support gender equality as well as internally working on our self confidence. Ask women what challenges they are facing, review the women supporting policies and thirdly, standing up for ourselves, so that Women could pave a way for themselves.
Dr. Aparna Akula the Principal Scientist at ISenS, CSIO, achiever of the Young Achievers award, IEEE Young Engineer Award, Young Scientist Award, shared her thoughts on Women's Day. While having continuous support from the family, she said that we as women shouldn't hesitate to ask for help. Women Equality is more of an Individual Drive along with governmental and institutional drives.
Dr. Kanchan Bhardwaj, an esteemed medical professional with a wealth of experience as Prof. & Head of the Department of Pathology, MMCSMR, Sadopur, Ambala, achiever of Icon Healthcare Award, Best Blood Transfusion Services. She said that God has made us stronger than men biologically. And we have to focus on achieving financial freedom and knowledge to pave the way for parity.
Ms. Seema Gurrtan, seasoned Senior HR Manager at Finxera, with a rich background in the information technology (IT) industry, shed light on what it is like being a woman in the corporate industry. She said even though we have women in top positions in the industry, we still have a long way to go.
Chief Guest, Prof. Saraswati Setia, said that as women we should consider ourselves as the Best. With the theme of International Women's Day 2024, Inspiring Inclusion, Dr Setia stressed that God has made us equal, and it must be celebrated; and for it managing expectations was the key. She gave examples of Rani Laxmi Bai, Ahilya Bai Holkar, Mother Teresa, Sarojini Naidu, our own Almamater Kalpana Chawla, Honourable President Smt. Draupadi Murmu Ji, Smriti Irani, Dr. Tesi Thomas, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Arunima Sinha, Jamuna Tudu, Mithali Raj, Sakshi Malik, Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal and so many other women who have excelled their fields and should be appreciated. Each one of their journeys was full of trials and it must be acknowledged that the challenge is still there. However, diversity should be celebrated. She emphasised that the focus is not fighting men, but working together and generating Equal Opportunities by breaking systematic barriers. Intersectionality Matters. Lastly, Educational Empowerment to empower women was pivotal. Dr Setia shared that she is proud to be a woman, and is willing to take the responsibility that comes with it. For her, Sky's the limit.
At last, Dr. Nidhi Tanwar provided a vote of thanks. The event ended with fun games and snacks to mark the theme of Inspiring Inclusiveness of International Women's Day 2024.
