The Hindu Business Line : Philomena Peris, Managing Director and Chairperson, Peris Avanthy Investment; Mount Carmel College, Bangalore

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Philomena Peris, Managing Director and Chairperson, Peris Avanthy Investment; Mount Carmel College, Bangalore

— G.R.N. Somashekar

Ms Philomena Peris, Managing Director and Chairperson, Peris Avanthy Investment Pvt Ltd, addressing a guest lecture at Mount Carmel College in Bangalore organised by the BL Club.

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Bangalore, Nov. 20 Despite the progress made by India in many sectors, the condition of women has largely remained the same and every two minute a woman is subjected to violence and every 40 minutes a woman is sexually harassed, said Ms Philomena Peris, Managing Director and Chairperson, Peris Avanthy Investment Pvt Ltd, here.

Delivering a lecture on women empowerment organised by BL Club and sponsored by Syndicate Bank, for the students of Mount Carmel College (Autonomous), she urged each one of them to wipe away tears from at least one woman. “If you do this, you have done your bit towards women empowerment,” she said.

The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of panchayats and municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels.

There has been marked shift in the approach to women’s issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment of women has been recognised as the central issue in determining the status of women. However, there still existed a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution, legislation, policies, plans, programmes, and related mechanisms on the one hand and the situational reality of the status of women in India, Ms Philomena said.

“About 10 million women are empowered through village panchayats and women are seen these days in all walks of life. They have been elected to Assemblies and Parliament. Even with all this, all forms of violence against women, physical and mental, whether at domestic or societal levels, are taking place. They arise from customs, traditions or accepted practices. This can be addressed only if all women come together. It is sad that we don’t support each other. It is our mindset which is pulling us down,” she said.

She urged the students to tap infinite opportunities in various sectors such as agriculture, technology, education and so on. “The harsh realities of intra-household and social discrimination could be easily overcome with economic empowerment. The power of ‘green note’ is the ultimate empowerment,” she said.

Sr. M. Albina, Principal, Mount Carmel College (Autonomous) and Mr V. Narayanan, Senior Manager, Retail Banking Division, Syndicate Bank were present.

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