Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said that instead of mitigating the problems faced by women, the past nine years had seen a sustained effort by the Modi government to turn women purely into symbols, to be counted and appreciated only in their restricted traditional roles in a patriarchal framework.
Addressing the Women’s Right Conference organised here by DMK MP Kanimozhi to commemorate the birth centenary of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Ms. Gandhi said that just as in every other frontier of rights, freedoms, equity, and equality, even among women, all the remarkable gains of the past 70 years had disappeared.
While Tamil Nadu had achieved the most impressive maternal and infant mortality rate through initiatives such as the mid-day meal programme, the promotion of women’s empowerment, and the encouragement of female education, these efforts and programmes had not been reflected at the national level. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin also took part in the event.
