Eminent leaders from the Industry and Social organizations including Educationist Ms. Gita Karan; Social Activist Ms. Tejaswini Madabhushi; Mr. Vishweshwar Reddy - Politician, Ms. Ananda Shankar Jayant - Dancer, Civil Servant and Cancer Survivor, Ms. Kiranmai Kondaveeti - Marathon runner & Adventurer and Dr. Renu Khanna, Head - Leadership Development, Tech Mahindra spoke on the topic. An elite panel of Ms. Sangita Reddy, Chairperson, FICCI – AP Chapter and Executive Director, Apollo Hospitals Group; Mr. A.S. Murthy, CTO, Tech Mahindra; Dr. R.S. Praveen Kumar, IPS, Secretary, APSWREIS; Mr. Kanthi Rana Tata, DCP, Cyberabad, deliberated about the decisions and thought process that is needed to implement today, that will help shape the Future of the girl child, tomorrow.
Speaking to the audience Ms. Gita Karan said women have to build their own today and advised them to build their own lives come what may. Ms. Ananda Shankar Jayant said women are capable of nurturing their career and passion simultaneously, and are resilient to cope with adversities. Ms. Tejaswini Madabhushi highlighted how she and a bunch of women are working towards creatively addressing the issues women face, instead of adopting protests as a means and are trying to reclaim the public space that rightfully belongs to women. Mr. Vishweshwar Reddy pointed out the disgrace of Hyderabad being listed amongst the cities with high crime rate against women. He said the priority of any government is to ensure basic amenities for the population, good governance, safety and security of people, especially women, these will automatically ensure talented human resource, investments and Companies being attracted to the city. Ms. Kiranmai Kondaveeti narrated her journey of transforming from a simple housewife at the age of 40, into an accomplisher - a Marathon runner & Adventurer. Dr. Renu Khanna, said as a women you need to take power from yourself rather than expecting it from someone. She advised working women to choose their battles very carefully, to be organizationally savvy, seek help from mentors, coaches when needed, nurture ability to say no when it is essential.
Mr A.S. Murthy opening the panel discussion said Tech Mahendra has been emphasizing on gender diversity and 29% of its employees are women, however the cause of concern is not being able to sustain that percentage at the top of the ladder. Dr. R.S. Praveen Kumar emphasized on the role of APSWREIS in emancipation of deprived sections of the society and how this silent generation is getting relegated due to lack of Society’s focus on them. Mr. Kanthi Rana Tata pointed out the various measures Cyberabad police is initiating to ensure safety and security of women. He said APSRTC has increased the number of shuttles by 300 from Cyberabad and is ensuring a bus every ten minutes from this area. APIIC has spared 8 acres of precious land for APSRTC here to make this possible, he said. From May 1st autos and cabs here will have a unique ID and will be under surveillance, these vehicles can be identified with their ‘My Vehicle is safe’ sticker. IT corridor has nine checkposts manned 24/7 and in case of crisis the area can be sealed. 150 CC cameras with night vision are being installed in the area for electronic surveillance, there are 47 currently, that too without night vision. Police personnel working in IT corridor are being trained in etiquette and language skills to meet the special needs of this area. The area has dedicated police personnel comprising of a lady inspector, inspector and 70 personnel. He wanted women who desire not to visit a police station, to just send a SMS or Email and the police will come and seek their complaint. He also highlighted that the membership of Cyberabad Security council has been enhanced from 86 member companies to 150 and how the response from companies has not been encouraging in contributing a minimal subscription fee. The recent disturbing trend he said has been the suicides these employees are resorting to, every week 2 to 3 cases are being reported and companies have to address this by seeking help from specialists.
Ms Sangita Reddy said after generation of oppression women faced, we are beginning to see the opening of multiple windows. However, we need to look at how we can help women leap to the next step of taking on leadership roles and also ensure that when women are reaching out to stars they don’t fall in the puddle. The real daily puddles for women are safety and security, she pointed out. Every women should start the lessons of gender equality from her home by educating her sons. She promised on behalf of FICCI, FLO and ASSOCHAM, to join hands with the police and educate members about the initiatives of Cyberabad police in ensuring safety and security of women and also ensure its corporate members cooperate with the police in they doing their job effectively.
