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Journalism of Courage
Recalling his efforts to empower women through reservation and induction in the armed forces, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who was defence minister in the early 1990s, claimed on Thursday that the induction of women in the Indian Air Force later had brought down accident rates.
“I have learnt that the accident rates, which were high in the Indian Air Force, have come down after women were inducted into the Air Force. It is because women are more focused on performing their duties,” he said at an awards function for women achievers.
According to Pawar, he had pressed for reservation for women in the armed forces but it was opposed before being accepted much later. “Now, women officers are leading the Republic Day parade… women have proved themselves whenever they have been given an opportunity,” he said.
The NCP chief also referred to former prime minister Indira Gandhi as “one of the most powerful prime ministers the country has ever seen” and said that she had once made the Russian leadership apologise for not following protocol during her visit to Russia.
Pawar, who was defence minister in 1991-93 in the P V Narasimha Rao government, was speaking at the Yashaswini Sanman event at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, where six women from different fields were felicitated for their work. Actor Shabana Azmi and her husband and lyricist Javed Akhtar were the chief guests.
Those who were felicitated were Bharati Swami (organic farming), Sunita Borde-Khadse (literature), Rajashree Patil (entrepreneurship), Laxmi Narayanan (social sector), Shailja Jain (sports) and Sharmila Kalgutkar (journalism).
Akhtar said the coming era would be known as one of women. Praising Pawar for his vision of women empowerment, Azmi said, “It was during the chief ministership of Pawar that Maharashtra became the first state in the country, in 1988, to ban pre-natal sex determination test and later he was the first one to initiate reservation for women in the country.”
NCP leader Supriya Sule said the day marks the 29th year of the state government’s decision to provide reservation for women. “Women should now come forward and fight in the interests of the state,” she said.
