“The slew of measures initiated by the government to protect women's rights and ensure child welfare will have no meaning if the beneficiaries are uninformed,” said Collector Peeyush Kumar on Friday.
Speaking after inaugurating a two-day workshop organised to launch the Krishna district unit of the Society for Protection and Empowerment of Women and Children, the Collector said the objective of introducing the society was to facilitate effective protection of women and children by synergising the service chain of government, NGOs and private sector.
He said the active operation of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and the DWCRA groups had, to some extent, helped women achieve their goals in the rural areas. Similarly, the Children's Parliaments, constituted in Penamaluru mandal on a pilot basis, had proved to be a success and the administration was in favour of replicating them across the district. Under these ‘Parliaments', children were able to identify issues confronting them and find solutions to many of them on their own.
He said the best part of the newly-formed society was that it would bring under one umbrella the various allied government wings, people's representatives and the non-governmental organisations.
Awareness meetings
Mayor M. V. Ratna Bindu said equal status for women in society was possible only when there was a positive change in people's mindset. Expressing serious concern over the burgeoning cases of HIV/AIDS in some of the pockets in the city, she said the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation would organise awareness meetings to educate the masses.
