The week-long activities organized by Amity University, from 5th-12th March 2024, to celebrate International Women’s Day, concluded with the presentation of “Adraja: Nari Shakti Samman” to the renowned Women Achievers including Ms. Laxmi Singh, Police Commissioner Gautam Buddh Nagar, Padma Shri Kathak Dancer Smt. Shovana Narayan, Ms. Roopa Ganguly, Former Minister Rajya Sabha and Classical Dancer, Athlete Asha Malviya, Ms. Deepti Rawat Bhardwaj, National General Secretary, Mahila Morcha BJP, Ms. Karuna Gopalji, President, Foundation for Futuristic Cities, Padma Shri Ms. Nahid Abidi, Ms. Pallabi Ghosh, Anti Trafficking Activist and Ms. Saroj Singh, Assistant Editor, Asia BBC News.
Speaking on the occasion, Guest of Honour, Ms. Laxmi Singh, Police Commissioner Gautam Buddh Nagar, averred, “Our society has given equal rights for voting to women the day our country became independent, and she must use her right to vote since every woman’s vote counts. During the last couple of years, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as a role model and the Mission Shakti Programme has been highly appreciated by the Central Government.”
Addressing the students, she further added, “Compromise is not a bad word but only if you do not have a dream and lead a comfortable life. But if you dare to dream, the word ‘compromise’ should not exist. You must create your own path and keep walking forward. If you struggle enough to have your own path, share it with others also and inspire them. No one can call you weak if you do not accept your weaknesses. A woman has a number of choices in every situation, but one basic principle is ‘they cannot say no and cannot accept no. This courage comes from inner conviction. Women must not be judged by their appearance, a woman’s brain works in a multi-dimensional way, and she can find solutions to all problems very easily. We hope to celebrate Woman’s Day at Amity where all students will share their success stories, come out of their comfort zone and make their country proud. India is a progressive nation and the Gen Z + must lead the way forward to make it a more developed country.”
Sharing his words of wisdom, Dr. Ashok K. Chauhan, Founder President, Amity Education Group said, “The esteemed guests have inspired the students of Amity immensely today by sharing their own success stories. Every student has the potential to become a success story and Amity will always support its students to achieve their dreams.” He called upon the students to learn and imbibe the qualities of the esteemed guests and work towards nation-building.
Delivering her acceptance speech, Ms. Roopa Ganguly, Former Minister Rajya Sabha and Classical Dancer, opined, "There is no one day for celebrating Women’s Day rather it should be celebrated every day. There has been a lot of development in the area of women empowerment in the last few years and today people are talking about the education of girls instead of their external beauty.” She urged the students not to waste their time on social media and motivated them to work for e-waste management.
Highlighting the significance of celebrating Women’s Day, Mrs. Pooja Chauhan, Chairperson, Amity Humanity Foundation and Amity School of Film and Drama, stated, “All of us speak about ‘Nari Shakti ‘on Women’s Day but for me “Nari Shakti” is not just two words. It stands for “Karm Shakti”, since women work very hard, “Icchcha Shakti” since they have innate desire to accomplish their mission, “Sundaram Shakti”, as a woman’s soul is beautiful, she is highly compassionate and a true nurturer. A woman never has a plan of action but whenever a problem comes, she faces it courageously and works from her heart. If there is no bridge, then we must make a bridge to cross all the hurdles and if there is no opportunity, we must create an opportunity for ourselves.” She advised the students of Amity to have the courage, dream big and work hard.
Deliberating upon equality for both men and women, Member of National Human Rights Commission, Ms. Vijayabharathi Sayani said that Shiva is not complete without Parvati, therefore, in Indian tradition and culture, “Ardhanarishvara” is worshiped, which includes both male and female forms. Since ancient times Indian men and women have had the right to equality, therefore we all must always have a sense of equality and fairness for both genders since no gender is superior or inferior.”
During the Valedictory Session, an ‘E- Coffee Table Book’ and ‘IWD-2024 Souvenir’ were also released by the dignitaries, along with the release of two books titled “Bachpan Ka Safar’-Child Custody: Socio-Legal Challenges” and ‘HER-i-zons on Earth: Fostering Women Sustainability’. The Report of IWD 2024 was by Prof. (Dr.) Shefali Raizada, Chairperson, IWD Organizing Committee and also present on the occasion were Dr. D.K. Bandopadhyay, Chairman, Amity Law School, Dr. Gurinder Singh, Group Vice Chancellor Amity Universities, amongst others.