JAMMU: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today called for creating a Gender Neutral Ecosystem in J&K where the women can choose any profession, job or business.
The Lt Governor was speaking during an event held at General Zorawar Singh Auditorium, Jammu University to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor assured equal opportunities and widening of women’s sphere of activities so that their special talents and experiences could enrich Jammu & Kashmir’s economy and public service.
The soul of a country and society is poor without the invaluable contribution of women. Our collective effort is to provide advanced education, modern facilities, and support in every sector so as to enable women to make the best contribution towards the common good, observed the Lt Governor.
“We aim to develop an environment, in work places from government departments to the corporate world, to engage more women in the fields where they are less in numbers,” he said.
Speaking on the importance of gender neutrality, the Lt Governor made a special mention of Pooja Devi, the first female bus driver of J&K and expressed his happiness that women of the UT are breaking barriers.
“After seeing the determination of Pooja Devi, we have decided to make an addition in the notification for recruitment of Government Bus Drivers (which is gender neutral) and add a line that women can also apply for this post”, said the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor further called for more participation of Women in J&K’s workforce with the help of Mission Youth, Himayat and Skill Development Centres.
The Government is working on the lines of Jan Andolan for the social and economic upliftment of women. From entrepreneurship to education, we are giving financial assistance to the women so that they can become financially and socially independent and can contribute towards economic development of J&K, said the Lt Governor.
Noting this year’s theme of International Women’s Day – “Choose to Challenge”, the Lt Governor suggested that Women Development Corporation should develop a platform to connect academia with industry, NGOs and Private sector and start a “Champions for Innovation” program.
