Minister for Information and Public Relations DK Aruna on Saturday called on women to be strong, determined and unite to fight against the crime and atrocities against them.
She was speaking after inaugurating the stalls at Telugu Lalitha Kala Toranam organised by a Telugu television channel on the occasion of Naveena Mahila Awards ceremony and 5th Anniversary celebrations of Naveena.
Ms Aruna also said that the harassment on women has not totally disappeared in the society, there are still some parts of the nation where women are treated very badly.
The Minister appreciated the stalls organised by various Non-Government Organisations and said that the organisations have made an effort for creating awareness on Domestic Violence, Ragging, breast cancer, good healthy food for women.
“Naveena is a woman based programme which has successfully brought out the problems of women and also creating awareness about the strategy to combat them” said Information Commissioner C Parthasarathi.
Mr Parthasarathi added that the discrimination of female gender is always the factor even today.
He said that the female foeticide is still practiced in remote localities of the country and that women should be aware about Domestic Violence Act and other rights which are supportive for their safe livelihood.
The Naveena Mahila Awards was first held in 2006. This event will present awards for women under different categories every year on March 8 on eve of International Women’s Day.
The award categories are Courage, Fighting for one’s rights and Fighting against social evil. The awardees will be announced on a live programme on the television channel on March 8, 2011.