Best role played by anyone during COVID-19 pandemic that of mothers, says Ramesh Pokhriyal

New Delhi [India], March 8 : On the occasion of International Women's Day, Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Monday highlighted the importance of women leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic by saying that the best role played by anyone at such times is that of "mothers."
"The best role played by anyone in a pandemic is that of mothers," the Union Minister said at a webinar on International Women's Day today.
the Minister also said that women are performing exceedingly well in science, technology, research, literature and social services showcasing the highest quality of leadership potential.
Hailing the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020, Pokhriyal said that it has the potential to enhance the dignity of women in our society and empower them and appreciated the fact that women enrolment has increased in IITs and NITs.
While Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for Education stated that the celebration of the contributions made by women and girls should not be restricted to just one day.
"The role of women in maintaining health, immunity, hygiene, sanitation of their family members during the pandemic. The 'Gender-Inclusion Fund' in the NEP will be constituted to build the nation's capacity to provide equitable quality education for all girls," Dhotre said.
Speaking on the occasion, D P Singh, Chairman of UGC observed that the theme of the webinar "Women Leadership- Achieving an equal future in a -19 world" has been announced by UNDP and is also aligned with the priority theme of the 65th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
He highlighted the flagship Generation Equality campaign of the UN which calls for women's right to decision making in all areas of life, equal pay, equal sharing of unpaid care and domestic work, an end to all forms of violence against women and girls, and health care services that respond to their needs.
Anita Karwal, Secretary, School Education mentioned the Gross Happiness Index of the World, 2018 in which freedom to make your own choices is one of the parameters for assessing Gross Happiness.
"If women play an important role in decision making, the Gross Happiness Index would go up. Unless there is access to resources and power to make choices women cannot progress," she said.
Amit Khare, Secretary, Higher Education said that with the combined efforts of the Ministry of Education, Women and Child Environment, and the States the Gender Parity Index has increased during the last 4-5 years from 1 per cent to 1.01 per cent at present, which is a commendable achievement also appreciated by UNESCO.
This implies that the percentage of girl students is more than boys in higher education.
Women of four universities, Prof Najma Akhtar, Vice-Chancellors, Jamia Millia Islamia(JMI), Prof. Sushma Yadav, Vice-Chancellor, Bhagat Phul Singh (BPS) Women's University, Prof. Balwinder Shukla, Vice-Chancellor Amity University, Noida and Prof. Shalini Bharat, Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) also spoke at the webinar.