Releasing a book on a collection of women stalwarts titled Penne Peraartral , former MLA and Communist Party of India (Marxist) State executive committee member Balabharathi suggested the Tamil Nadu government should include books on women in schools as a part of the curriculum.
The book is a collection of the life history of 120 women who played a significant role in the freedom movement and even before that in the country. Speaking at a book launch function on Thursday, Ms. Balabharathi said that dissemination of the sacrifices and services of women personalities in the early years of Indian independence through the teachers would go a long way in understanding the issues in a better way for the next generation of students.
The Social Welfare Department should take a pivotal role in spreading the knowledge to the children, especially the girl students. Thanking the author for bringing out voluminous details, the Communist leader said that awareness among girl students at an early age might lead to more women in the legislative assemblies and the Parliament.
Today, though women voters were higher than men in Tamil Nadu, the number of women elected representatives was very meagre. “If this has to change, students should know more about the history and such books may be the medium to bring about a tangible change,” she said.
The former MLA appealed to institutions like the Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation to create awareness and educate people on social evils such as child marriage, which was on the rise. Female infanticide, which was rampant once, had been prevented to a great extent only after formal education was given to a large number of people from rural areas, she noted.
Social activists should discuss the features and merits of books like Penne Peraartral on social media and not just confine themselves to sensational topics, Ms. Balabharathi suggested.
R. Rajakumari, Executive Director, M.S. Chellamuthu Trust released the book and Ms. Balabharathi received the first copy on the occasion. Selvagomathi, Director, Justice Shivaraj Patil Foundation; Bimla Chandrasekar, Director, Ekta, a Madurai based NGO; advocate Balasundari and others were felicitated.
Author B. Thirumalai said it was his 42nd book and he had taken about a year to collect all the information about women stalwarts from various sources. Chellamuthu Trust Director, K.P.S. Janardhan Babu welcomed the gathering at the launch event and publisher, M. Murugesan proposed a vote of thanks.
