Isolate those who give or take dowry: Minister

Those who give dowry and those who receive it should be isolated, Minister for Women and Child Development Veena George has said.

She was speaking after inaugurating the State-level programmes in connection with International Women’s Day and giving away the Vanitha Rathna awards here on Thursday.

The Minister said women should take a united stance against dowry. This could be realised if every individual took the decision.

Breast cancer detection

The goal, the Minister said, was a women-friendly State. Women should have a healthy body and mind. A new campaign would be started this year to detect breast cancer. If detected early, breast cancer could be treated and cured completely. To ensure this, mammogram machines were being set up not only in cancer centres and medical colleges, but also in district and taluk hospitals. The campaign would include voluntary organisations and the private sector.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day was ‘Invest in women: accelerate progress.’ In the State, reformation and education of women had made this possible decades ago. Girls outnumbered boys in higher education, including in medical education. Though the presence of women in the government sector was significant, it was less if the work sector was looked at in general. Though the State was ranked first in women representation in the work force, it had to improve further. Challenges in the way of women’s development also had to be identified. The Kerala Knowledge Economy Mission had found that 90% of the women had career breaks. Efforts were being made by the Women and Child Development department to address this.

Winners

The Vanitha Rathna awards were presented to Treesa Jolly, Jilumol Marriot Thomas, P. Viji of ‘Penkoottu,’ and Annapoorni Subrahmaniam. Kudumbashree Executive Director Jafar Malik received the special award for Kudumbashree. Thiruvananthapuram Collector Geromic George and Thrissur Collector V.R. Krishna Teja received the special awards for District Collectors. The awards for the ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) were also given away on the occasion.

Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty presided. District panchayat president D. Suresh Kumar, Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson P. Satheedevi and gender consultant T.K. Anandi, and Women and Child Development Principal Secretary Sharmila Mary Joseph and Director Haritha V. Kumar were present.