category Regional, shimla, , tags Regional, shimla, , DW BUREAU Shimla Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla stresses the need to bring change in the society to empower women and said that they have to be provided fair and equal opportunities in the society, so that they could move forward to their full potential. The Governor was addressing a seminar on the topic Women Empowerment Indian Perspective organized by Sunil Upadhyay Education Trust here today on the occasion of the death anniversary of Sunil Upadhyay. Shukla said that Women Empowerment is a topic which needs to be discussed and implemented properly by the society and nation today. He said that the respect for women in ancient times had started decreasing in the medieval period. Although, in the modern era, many Indian women hold important political and administrative positions, yet common rural women still forced to live in their homes, he added. The Governor said that women in urban areas of India are more employed than in rural areas. According to statistics, about 30 percent women work in the software industry in Indian cities, while in rural areas about 90 percent women work as daily wage labourers, mainly in agriculture and related sectors, he said. Our country is progressing rapidly, but we can maintain it only if we are able to remove gender inequality and ensure equal education, promotion and pay for women as men , said Shukla. He said that in the last few years, many constitutional and legal rights have been enacted and implemented by the government to remove gender inequality and bad practices against women. He said that the Nari Shakti Vandan Act is an important step towards women empowerment and social equality. The Governor said that the Government of India has launched many other schemes for women empowerment such as MNREGA, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Janani Suraksha Yojana (a scheme run to reduce maternal mortality rate) etc. (editor dailyworld.in)