No country can make progress if women lag behind: Venkaiah Naidu

The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that education is an instrument of social transformation adding that it forms the foundation for empowering women, especially in a country like India. 

Delivering the Convocation address at the University College for Women in Hyderabad on October 4, 2018, he said that no country can make progress if women lag behind. Educating a woman would not only empower an individual but an entire family. Expressing his concern over gender inequality, he warned that subordination of women in various spheres would have serious negative consequences. Calling for breaking down walls and defying stereotypes, he emphasized that women, who constitute more than half the



population, need to be given voice and space. 

“We can become innovators and knowledge producers only when we bring about a paradigm shift in our education system and evolve an education system that provokes young minds into thinking that combines pursuit of knowledge with creativity, critical thinking and skills,” he said.

“Empowering women is empowering entire humanity”, he asserted. The Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana, Mohammad Mehmood Ali, the Vice Chancellor of Osmania University, Prof S. Rama Chandram, and Principal, University College for Women, Prof. Roja Rani, members of the faculty, students and parents were present on the occasion.