‘Bring back culture of respecting women’

Hyderabad: Stressing on the need to bring back the Indian culture of respecting women in society, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday expressed concern over the recent spurt in atrocities against women.

He was the chief guest at the Valedictory Function of the 94th Foundation Course for Trainee Civil Servants, organised by Dr MCR HRD Institute of Telangana under the aegis of LBSNAA, Mussoorie and Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) here.The Vice President said rape was a shame. “While strong legislation to curb this phenomenon is important in its own right, the need of the hour is to change the mindset of people and revive our values of respect for women which are embedded in our culture,” he said and added that trainee civil servants had the rare opportunity to bring a qualitative change in the lives of the people.

Naidu said women had inherent potential and there was a need to provide equal opportunities to them for their development and that of the country. “A country that was known as the ‘Vishwa Guru’ must put an end to inequalities,” he said.

He said the growth trajectory of India had been quite impressive and advised the young civil servants to contribute their best to give a further boost to it. He said India’s growth story would gain the much required momentum and direction when all the civil services work together in unison.

The Vice President underlined the need for multifaceted development of people residing in rural areas. “In order to achieve this cherished goal, good governance is the only mantra,” he added. He advised the young civil servants to ensure that the fruits of development reach the weaker sections of society which, he said, was possible only if governance becomes corruption free, citizen-centric, and business friendly.

He then presented awards to Shreya Gupta, IPS (Best All Round Performance), Tanay Shankar, IRS–IT (Best Performance in Academics), M Venkateshwaran, IFS (Best Performance in Sports), Amelia Betsy C, ISS (Esprit de Corps), and also to toppers in different subjects. He also released a copy of the house journal, brought out by the House Journal Society of the 94th Foundation Course.

Mohammad Mahmood Ali, Home Minister, Telangana State; BP Acharya, Director General of Dr MCR HRD Institute of Telangana; and Rasmi Chowdhary, Joint Secretary, DoPT, were also present.