CHENNAI: Extending her greetings to women on the eve of International Women’s Day, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said if womenkind was ignored in India, where they constituted 50 per cent of the nation’s total population, the country could not progress well. She also expressed concern over the long-pending Bill providing for 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament.Recalling the number of pro-women measures taken by successive governments headed by her, Jayalalithaa announced that with a view to honouring the women, an award in the name of Tamil woman savant Avvaiyar would be presented to a woman of outstanding qualities. The award would be presented on Interntional Women’s Day from the coming year.“India is the only country where women are adored to the maximum extent ... we call our nation as motherland ... we name the rivers after women ... Society should realise that for running the chariot of life, we need two wheels ... when a cow gives birth to a female calf, people are happy ... but if a woman gives birth to a female child, people get irritated,” she observed.Jayalalithaa said behind the success of every man, there is a woman. “We are keen on protecting the quality of the soil and forest wealth and water resources ... similarly, the rights of women should also be protected,” Jayalalithaa said and added that women should move ahead of challenges posed by life with self-confidence.The Chief Minister said the strength of India lies in the rights of women and quoted poet Subramaniya Bharathi who said the world would prosper if people realised that men and women were equal. Jayalalithaa recalled the pro-women schemes initiated by her - cradle baby scheme, girl child protection scheme, women’s self-help groups, All Women Police Stations, All Women Commando Force, approval for using the first letter of the name of mother as the initial, using the word ‘kudimagal’ as feminine equivalent for the English word citizen and institution of Kalpana Chawla award for brave women, increasing the financial assistance for marriage of girls belonging to poor families along with four gram gold for making ‘thaali’, distribution of mixies, grinders and fans for women and sanitary napkins for adolescent girls.To mark the International Women’s Day, Ministers of Tamil Nadu government will garland the statue of Avvaiyar on Marina beach on March 8.
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