A nation cannot be empowered without educating the girls as they are the flag bearers of nation's development, this was stated by the Minister of State for Education, Culture and Tourism, Priya Sethi during the felicitation function of Kashyap Neha Pandita, the fourth rank holder in the Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS) examination.Speaking on the occasion, the Minister applauded Neha for her achievement and said that she is a true representative of girl empowerment as she defy all odds, overcome every hurdle to achieve what she nurtured during her childhood. Priya lauded Sewa Bharti for working with dedication for creating a better society.Highlighting several initiatives, the Minister said that the government is significantly emphasizing on educating girls for their empowerment. Only with the collective efforts by all, we can achieve the objective of girl empowerment, she affirms.
Pertinently, Neha is probably the first displaced Pandit girl living in a camp to clear the KAS examination in the past two decades. Originally from a remote village in Shopian district of south Kashmir, Neha’s family migrated in 1989-90. Since then her family has been living in camps set up by the government in Jammu.She holds mastersin organic chemistry and a bachelor’s degree in education.Sharing her success story, Neha said she used to study for 12-14 hours without any coaching and gave credit to her teachers and parents for supporting her. She asked the younger generation to look towards civil services as well.Neha said that she nurtured a dream to pursue her career in civil services since her childhood, lived in camps, tents and then in a squalid one room shelter without basic amenities, attended the Camp School, Mishriwala, then went to GGM Science College (Jammu) and later did post-graduation from Uttarakhand. “One needs to overcome many challenges coming in the way of success” she added.Anousya Khosa, Ramlal Gandotra, Pradeep Kapoor besides other members of Sewa Bharti were present on the occasion.