The Central University of Kashmir (CUK) Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir today emphasized the need to educate the girl child for the overall development of any nation.“Educating a girl means educating a family which forms a microcosm of the society,” Prof. Mehraj ud Din Mir said while inaugurating a one-day seminar on “Gender Equality-Issues, Concerns and Prospects,” organised by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in collaboration with Directorate of Students Welfare (DSW) and Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of the varsity at Nowgam-I academic block of the university.Central University of Jammu Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ashok Aima, Help Foundation Chairperson, Nighat Shafi, Dean School of Education, Prof. N A Nadeem, Chief Warden, Dr. Farooq Shah, Director, DSW, Dr. Fayaz A Nikka, Controller of Examinations, Dr. Nazir Ahmad Gilkar, Deans of various schools, Head and Coordinators of other departments, faculty members and students were also present on the occasion.
Prof. Mehraj ud Din said the women of contemporary times are much more empowered than their predecessors and have the capacity and capability to confront the issues and problems in everyday life. “Majority of the women folk today know their rights and fight for the same through different means,” he said. Prof. Mehraj ud Din said the varsity was taking due care to provide a safe environment to the female staffers and students. “We have registered only one complaint regarding harassment and that is being dealt very strictly,” CUK VC said, adding that the Internal Complaints Committee is doing an exemplary job by holding awareness programmes on the harassment issues. He added that the varsity has more female students than males, who are passing out with flying colors and are carving a niche for themselves in different fields.
Central University of Jammu Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ashok Aima, who was the chief guest, while speaking on the occasion said that human competence should be given weightage over caste, creed and gender. “During the present era, the women folk are giving tough times to their males counterparts in every professional field, particularly academics, wherein they are outperforming the males,” he said. He said that an educated female plays a pivotal role in strengthening the family and its values.Help Foundation Chairperson, Nighat Shafi, who was the guest of honour, while addressing the gathering shared her experience in dealing with women who have been suffering due to various issues. Mrs. Shafi underscored the need to educate the women and aware them about their rights and the schemes and programmes formulated by the government for their upliftment. She expressed serious concern over the increasing dropout rate of girls from schools and surge in the cases of female feticide.
Shafi said that her organization was providing training to the widows so that they can sustain their families.Chief Warden, Dr. Farooq Shah conducted the programme proceedings while as Ishrat Bashir, Presiding Officer, ICC delivered the welcome address and Hindi Adhikari, Sakeena Akhter proposed the vote of thanks.A panel discussion and a painting competition on the theme “Why Do I Support or Oppose Equal Rights For Men and women?” was also held after the inauguration. College of Education Principal, Prof. Parven Pandit, Head of the Department English, Kashmir University, Prof. Lilly Want, former director Distance Education, KU, Prof. Shafiqa Parveen, GDC Bemina Principal, Prof. Yasmeen Ashai, MERC KU, faculty, Muslim Jan, Controller of Examinations, Dr. Nazir A Gilkar, Coordinator, Department of Political Science, Prof. A M Baba also participated in the panel discussion and discussed the topic threadbare.In the panting competition, Nazish Farooq Mir of Zoology bagged the first prize of Rs 5000 while as Marium Shah of MBA department bagged the second prize of Rs 3000 and Hannah Mushtaq of IT deptt bagged the third prize of Rs 2000.Registrar, Prof. M Afzal Zargar who was the chief guest at the valedictory function also spoke about the issue and distributed prizes among the winners and certificates among the participants.Director, DSW, presented a report about the seminar during the valediction. (KNS)