Vizag Celebrates International Women's Day
59 women staff awarded; ₹1,013.23 crore worth cheques given to women beneficiaries under various bank linkages and welfare schemes
Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam district administration organised the International Women’s Day in a grand manner on Sunday and presented awards to its women officials and staff, apart from disbursing loans to women beneficiaries.
Bhimili MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Visakha North MLA Vishnu Kumar Raju, district collector M.N. Harendhira Prasad, joint collector Gobbilla Vidyadhari, and GCC managing director Shobhika participated in the programme.
Ganta Srinivasa Rao emphasised that women’s empowerment is not a one-day affair, but a continuous process of the society providing more opportunities to women. He recalled late NTR’s contributions, such as granting property rights to women and prioritising their election to local bodies.
The Bhimili MLA underlined that current Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is implementing various welfare schemes like "Thalliki Vandanam" and "Stree Shakti" for making women economically independent. He mentioned that steps are being taken to establish a 50-acre Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for women at Gidijala in Anandapuram mandal.
MLA Vishnu Kumar Raju said the central and state governments are implementing numerous programmes for women's development. He expressed optimism that Visakhapatnam would see significant growth in the next four years due to massive investments.
The collector appreciated the stalls showcasing products made by women. He observed that women must have at least 50 per cent participation in every field. He advised them to focus on education and health.
The event saw international blind woman cricketer P. Karuna Kumari being honoured with a memento. MLAs and the collector felicitated joint collector Vidyadhari and GCC MD Shobhika. Additionally, awards have been given for outstanding performance to 59 women officials and staff, including special deputy collector Seshasailaja, Vizag zoo curator Mangamma, and GVMC additional commissioner Satyaveni.
Further, the collector and joint collector distributed cheques totalling ₹1,013.23 crore to beneficiaries under various bank linkage and welfare schemes.