SiliconTech, the engineering institute of Silicon University, celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) on 14 March 2024 on the theme ‘Inspire Inclusion’. The IWD celebration was organized by the Social Awareness and Gender Equality for Women (SAGE-W) cell of Silicon.
IWD is a global day observed every year on 8 March to celebrate women’s achievements, educate and raise awareness about women’s equality, call for positive change advancing women, lobby for accelerated gender parity, and fundraise for women-focused charities. The IWD 2024 campaign theme was #InspireInclusion to forge a more inclusive world for women.
The guest speakers of IWD 2024 were Ms. Namrata Chadha and Dr. Padmini Panigrahi. Ms. Chadha is a lawyer, a social activist, and an ex-member of the State
Commission of Women, Odisha. Dr. Panigrahi is the Founder of the Koshala Group, an entrepreneur, and a TEDx speaker.
IWD celebration began with the welcome address delivered by our Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Jaideep Talukdar. He emphasized on fostering a culture of inclusivity around us. Dr. Anita Mohanty, chairperson of the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) delivered a speech about accelerating progress by including women. The SAGE-W cell then shared a PowerPoint Presentation (PPT) to provide a glimpse into the activities conducted by the cell last year. Dr. Pratap Ranjan Mohanty, Senior Assistant Professor, EEE shared a poem entitled ‘Nari’, centered on women.
In her talk, Ms. Chadha discussed the significance of awareness campaigns for inspiring and encouraging women’s growth at the grassroots level. She also discussed the Indian legislative provisions that seek to protect women’s rights. She further shared her views on the benefits of women’s inclusion in society and how to overcome gender disparity.
As a committed social worker and entrepreneur, Dr. Panigrahi focused her discussion on developing one’s skills to start a business. She emphasized that empowering women to start their ventures will foster their inclusion in the economy, and lead to the creation of a just society.
The women achievers of Silicon were felicitated by Dr. Ramaprasad Panda (Dean, Student Affairs).
A total of one hundred and fifty students, staff, and faculty members attended the event. The event concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Dr. Nivedita Pati, the Faculty Coordinator of SAGE-W Cell.
