On the occasion of International Women Day a State level literary festival was organised at Gaiety Theatre Shimla by Language and Culture Department. As many as 50 litterateur and intellectuals from across the State participated in the programme which lasted for two sessions. Additional Chief Secretary Smt. Manisha Nanda while presiding over the second session said women have very important role in the upliftment, growth and prosperity of the society. She said that such events should be organised to discuss the empowerment issues of women, their problems and challenges before them.She said due to increase in level of education and literacy there has been a lot of change in the conservative approach of society and there is need to make more efforts in this direction. She said poets and litterateurs from all over the state made women day meaningful by having written on various challenges to women.Secretary Language and Culture Department Dr. Purnima Chauhan said that men have important contribution towards empowerment of women and this sagacity of cooperation should further be extended for welfare of the society.Director Language and Culture Smt. Rupali Thakur welcomed the Chief Guest and gave details of various schemes and activities of the department.