CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan | Photo: Mathrubhumi
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday, on the occasion of International Women's Day, advocated harnessing innovation and technology to ensure gender justice and help women flourish.
Khan, on the occasion, tweeted, "On "#InternationalWomensDay, my best wishes to all our women to excel in their chosen fields of activities. True to this year's theme, let us direct our innovation and technology to ensure #genderequality."
Vijayan, on his Twitter handle, said that on International Women's Day everyone should celebrate the incredible achievements of women and embrace equality.
"As the theme of #IWD2023 suggests, let's work together to harness the possibilities of digital technology and build a world where all women can flourish," he tweeted.
The CM also posted on Facebook that the potential of the digital age should be harnessed for women empowerment.
The CM also said that on the occasion, the government is starting the digital school project, which aims to empower women to use digital technologies.
Through this programme jointly implemented by the Department of Women and Child Development and Gender Park, it is intended to provide training to Anganwadi staff and Kudumbashree workers.
Along with this, the government will take forward many more projects for women empowerment and gender equality, he stated in his post.
"This Women's Day reminds us that women's struggles for justice and equality should not be theirs alone and should be shared by all, regardless of gender. Today on International Women's Day let us pledge to do so and work for women's empowerment and social justice."
Later in the day, at an event here where job offer letters were offered to several women, Vijayan said government intervention alone cannot ensure an increase in the number of women doing jobs.
For that awareness needs to be created at the family level, he said.
Besides, the Knowledge Economy Mission of the state government was also working to create job opportunities.
The state government was also working to ensure skill development among women and create 20 lakh jobs.
Thereafter, at the statewide inauguration and Stree Ratna award distribution here on the occasion of the International Women's Day, the CM said his government was working to ensure complete digital literacy among women as in India only 30 per cent women use the internet.
This issue of digital divide needs to be addressed as in the future majority of the job opportunities would be in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) sector where women's presence is only 20 per cent, Vijayan said.
In addition, there are reports and studies which claim that worldover 40 per cent women have fallen prey to online crimes or offences and the numbers may be much more according to experts.
He stressed the need to overcome all these problems before innovation and technology can be used to ensure gender justice and equality.
Our state is working to reduce the digital divide by implementing various projects, like the Kerala Fiber Optic Network (KFON), he added.
The CM also referred to various measures taken by the state government to ensure safety and security of the women against offences. PTI
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