By Matters India Reporter
Bhopal, June 30, 2022: Pushpa Das is now determined to work for ending gender discrimination because she believes a just society is possible only when women and girls are treated equally.
“The vulnerable women and children are not generally given their due share in families and society,” says the second year Bachelor of Arts student from a private college in Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh state in central India.
The participant of a special training program for adolescent girls says she wants to dedicate her life as a social worker to transform society.
The June 14-29 training program at Bhopal’s St Raphael School was organized at the initiative of Holy Spirit Sister Lizy Thomas with the help of local police to encourage adolescent girls living in slums and other poor background to come up in life with confidence.
Das was among 107 girls who attended the training from qualified police officials in Bhopal.
“We organized this special training for adolescent girls to set goals for their lives,” Sister Thomas told Matter India June 30.
They were given training on self-defense, confidence building judo, karate, yoga, basic of Indian constitution, Indian Penal Code, traffic rules, rights of women and children and fundamental rights among other things, Sister Thomas explained.
“The training sessions transformed me so much so that now I want work for women and girl children who are discriminated because of their gender,” Das told Matters India on June 29 at the end of the training.
Women, she added, have restrictions everywhere. “If a girl wants to study, she is not allowed as poor families treat them as burn and force them for early marriage.”
“Don’t we have dreams like boys?” Das asks. The training “has given me courage to stand up for my rights and also of others like me,” said the daughter of a daily wage laborer father and a house maid.
“I see my parents struggling from dawn to dusk to feed us,” Das said and added that her poor condition will not discourage her to pursue her goal.
“Now I have goal and will go after it as I believe if I earnestly follow it I will accomplish my dream,” she asserted.
“We have organized this special training for adolescent girls to set goals for their lives,” says Sister Thomas told Matter India June 30.
“They are able and talented but they need encouragement to deal with their daily situations that forbid them from growing in their lives as dignified citizens,” the nun added.
Sister Thomas has worked among the poor living in the slums of Bhopal since 2001. “Women and girls are the backbone of society and they should be given their due,” asserted the director of Uday Social Development Society, a non-governmental organization. She thanked the Bhopal police for assisting her team in training the girls.
Samiksha Namdev, another participant, said the training has helped her dream of her future.
“The Indian solidity discriminates girls so much that they are even prevented from studying. Girls are made to work at home rather than pursue their education or career,” she bemoaned.
Encouraging the girls to come out of the stereotypes, Shradha Tiwari, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 2), said “I had also dream of becoming a police officer and I worked hard for it and finally I am here.”
She appealed the girls to chase their dreams but cautioned them that “difficulties will be there but they can be overcome with determination and hard work.”
Makrand Deoskar, Bhopal’s Commissioner of Police who attended the concluding function, appealed the parents to end their orthodox thinking about girls and encourage them to study and end their discrimination in homes and also in society.
The participants were given certificates. Sr Thomas assured her support to them in future whenever they need.
More than 750 guests attend the concluding session.
The initiative is appreciated. Every topic/theme that is selected for youth training must have a special focus on “character formation” – bringing attitudinal and behavioural changes. The focus must not be on quantity but on quality. Create a few “enlightened leaders” and they will do wonders – just one person like Gandhiji, Vivekananda and Mother Teresa etc.