Meira Kumar, the first woman Lok Sabha Speaker, was awarded an honorary D. Litt. (Degree of Doctor of Letters) by Maharashtra Governor and Chancellor of Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women's University K. Sankaranarayanan here, on Tuesday, during the 60{+t}{+h} annual convocation ceremony of the University.
“Women have great power hidden within them. Even the Mahatma believed in this and decided to involve them in the freedom struggle…But today we live in a country where rampant female foeticide and female infanticide take place. The condition of women in our country needs attention,” Ms. Kumar said in her address on the occasion.
She appealed to a representative group of the 21,803 women students who were awarded diplomas and degrees here, to educate and empower less fortunate women.
“You are very fortunate. You have an added responsibility to ensure that your other sisters also get education like you have got,” she told the students.
Ms. Kumar said that the world over, there was great research and discussion on why women were lagging behind, despite multitasking.
“Women do lot of multitasking, but what has happened in the course of history that they have lagged behind? It is a good topic for research,” she said, requesting the University to conduct a study in the matter.
She lauded the 94-year old University for upholding the value of women's empowerment. “This is the land of Savitribai Phule, where the seeds of women's education were sown. This University has upheld and cherished that value,” she said.
