Kejriwal felicitates 80-year-old Dadi Kaur among others on International Women’s Day

Kejriwal felicitates 80-year-old Dadi Kaur among others on International Women’s Day

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday attended the International Women’s Day programme organised by the Delhi Commission for Women as a chief guest, where he felicitated people in the field of arts, politics, entertainment, social work, etc, who have made major contributions to the society.

Some women who were felicitated today on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

Dadi Mohinder Kaur
80-year-old dadi Mohinder Kaur from Bathinda, Punjab, is an outright and vocal supporter of the farmers’ protests against the three farm laws brought in by the central government. People often find her holding a flag and walking down the roads of her village in protest of the farm laws.

Shanta Balu Pawar
Shanta Balu Pawar is a martial arts teacher, who is known by the name of ‘Warrior Aaji’. For a long time, her talent was hidden from the public, but was discovered through a viral video during the lockdown. She is currently 85 and gives martial arts training to young women.

IAF Officers
Flying Officer Anjali, Squadron Leader Shikha Pandey, Wing Commander Uvena Fernandes, Squadron Leader Kirti, Squadron Leader Shipra Deep
Inspector Seema Nag, CRPF

1. It is under her leadership/ supervision that 65 daredevil females, on their Royal Enfields during India’s Republic Day in 2020, proved that women in no way, are less than men.
   ASI Seema Dhaka
   Delhi Police Head Constable Seema Dhaka successfully rescued 76 children over a span of 3 months from not only Delhi, but other states like Bihar and Bengal. Of these, 56 children were under the age of 14 years. It is due to her honesty and dedication towards work that she was the first one to gain an “out of term promotion” under the Promotion Incentive Scheme.
2. ISRO Scientists
   Vanitha M, Kalpana K, Kalpana Aravind, Ritu Karidhal, G Padma Padmanabhan, K P Lilly, Priyanka
   Worked tirelessly, day and night in order to ensure the success of Mission Chandrayaan II (22 July 2019).
   Kusha Kapila
   Her content is viewed by thousands of people via Instagram and she seeks to deliver her message around body positivity through a simple comic style. It goes beyond the textbook language or speeches that people often deliver on the same, and has a deep impact on people’s lives.
   Dolly Singh
   Born in a small district of Uttarakhand, Dolly Singh gained popularity on social media, having begun her career in 2015 as a writer and producer. Her videos are not only hilarious but also seek to highlight the difference between right and wrong in a simple yet efficient manner.
   Pradeep Kumar- Auto Driver
   She helped a 15-year-old rape victim, who had somehow managed to escape and had been living in a park for 3 days by immediately informing the Delhi Commission for Women on its helpline number 181 due to which the girl is now safe and secure, with her mother.
   Shaheed Gurtej Singh
   He was a 23-year-old resident of the Mansa district of Punjab. Martyr Gurtej Singh would always be remembered for his courage and gallantry as he fought with great strength and valor against the Chinese troops in Galwan Valley last year.
   Kejriwal said people often believe that extraordinary people take up extraordinary work. However, it is the ordinary citizen who takes up the initiative to do extraordinary work. Each individual, who has been awarded, made an important contribution to society. He added that he hopes that honouring them would inspire other citizens to carry forward this work. He said the Delhi Commission for Women has done the most commendable work as seen in the past 5-6 years in terms of rescuing several women who were in distress.
   The Delhi Government’s policies in the past 5-6 years have adopted a women-centric approach with its motive to provide some relief to women in light of the inflation and economic crisis, with free water, free electricity, and free bus-ride to enable women to manage their work and households efficiently, he added.
   He said keeping women’s safety and security in mind, we have installed CCTV cameras and street lights in several nooks and corners of Delhi.
3. Kejriwal said: “Warm regards to Rajender Pal Gautam, Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal, Air Marshal Vijay Pal Singh Rana and all others present here. Happy International Women’s Day to all of you. We felicitated a lot of people right now and hearing them speak, made me wonder whether we are honouring them; or they are honouring us with their work. Each individual, who was awarded, made an important contribution towards the society for which I would like to congratulate them. I hope it would inspire other citizens to carry forward this work.”
4. “We often believe that extraordinary people take up extraordinary work. However, it is the ordinary citizen who takes up the initiative to do extraordinary work. The latter is often ignored by the people. However, the Delhi Commission for Women has taken the responsibility to bring forth and highlight their work in front of the common people. They locate those gems/ individuals from throughout the country who have worked for the welfare of society and felicitated them today, on the occasion of Women’s day. Multiple men and women have been applauded and honoured for their work done. I hope that this work continues in time to come,” he added.
   He said: “The Delhi Government’s policies in the past 5-6 years has adopted a women-centric approach with its motive to provide some relief to the working women in light of the inflation and economic crisis that we have been facing, due to which it has become very difficult to manage their household expenditure- with no increase in pay, but increase in prices of commodities. Women have to juggle between household work and office work.
5. “Delhi must be the only city in the entire country or in fact the entire world where free electricity is provided to people 24×7. Around 73% of people do not have to pay electricity bills at all. This gave the women immense joy and pleasure as the money that they saved could then be utilised to pay for household expenditures.”
6. “When water was made available free of cost to all, the ordinary woman- the homemaker was euphoric due to the ease with which she could run the household. When free access to buses was provided to women in Delhi, multiple female students benefited, due to the fact that women living in slum areas usually do not have the means to travel to schools and colleges due to which they miss out on education. In addition to this, it has also benefited the female vegetable vendors who can now travel a greater distance in order to sell vegetables and earn a living,” he added.
   He said: “Keeping women’s safety and security in mind, around 1.5- 2 lakh CCTV cameras have been installed in several nooks and corners of Delhi. Although most of the city has been covered with CCTVs, the remaining lanes and colonies too would be equipped with them very soon, making Delhi the only city with such a huge network of CCTV cameras for women’s security and safety. As mentioned by Swati, it is after the installation of these CCTV cameras that the rate of crimes in Delhi has reduced.”
   “Almost 3 lakh street lights were installed after locating the ‘dark spots’ in Delhi, in order to ensure that the women feel safe. Keeping the security of women in mind, the DTC buses now have marshals due to which multiple success stories have also come to light concerning the security of women. While formulating policies, the Delhi Government seeks to adopt a women-centric approach so as to ensure that the ordinary woman gains the maximum benefit in order to lead a comfortable life. I am truly grateful to Delhi Commission for Women; for inviting me to this event and would like to extend my hearty congratulations to all the award winners today,” added the CM.