NEW DELHI, March 6: Plans have been chalked out by various women's organisations in the Capital to commemorate International Women's Day on on Sunday (March 8). The celebrations to mark the day began with a symposium on `UN Conventions and the Advancement of Women' organised by the National Commission for Women (NCW) on March 4 and 5. Various ministries of the Government of India presented papers on how their departments were involved in the uplift of women. "Some of the main issues discussed included the need to strengthen the agricultural sector. Since women prepare the food basket, it is very important to improve their situation. An innovative and holistic linkage committee was set up to improve the agricultural scenario and the departments involved in this sector were also included in it," says Padma Seth of the NCW.At the open forum, non-governmental organisations highlighted the role they play in the formation of various forums and plans. A convention on the "Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination Against Women" was also held as part of the two-day symposium.Representatives from the different groups of the Joint Women's Programme (JWP) discussed the issues pertaining to women which required immediate remedial action. Some of the women who attended the function were representatives from the Capital's slums and resettlement colonies. Among other things, they discussed the obstacles in the way of the women's reservation bill, which they said was not being passed because of the prevalent patriarchal political culture. They decided to renew their campaign to get 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament.JWP director Jyotsna Chatterji lamented the fact that not many women had contested in these Lok Sabha elections as parties did not see them as potential winners.The NCW, in fact, had taken the initiative of putting up a symbolic woman candidate but withdrew her candidature since "there was no support from any political party". Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women willrelease its annual report on March 10 at a festival. "Looking Back, Looking Ahead"is a compilation of the work undertaken by DCW in the past 18 months and a glimpse into their future programmes.
