A three-day national conference on 'Women Led Development: A Game Changer' was held at Manipur University in Canchipur organised by the Centre for Myanmar Studies under the aegis of Research and Information Department of Philosophy Manipur University and System for Development Countries, New Delhi.
The conference, which aims to provide guidance and technical discussions on the role of women-led development, is part of the G20 University Connect initiative led by the RIS. This initiative connects universities and colleges across India to various think tanks, bridging the gap between theory and practice in.the future development of the nation.
VC Naorem Lokendro, while addressing the gathering of the national conference, said social scientists and policy planners across the globe have, for long, been discussing the theme “women and development”. Since the issue of “development” has became a vital agenda for consideration the question of woman in the entire discourse on development has been raised in various academic disciplines, and political forums.
He said that the discourse has been taken up by G20 countries. Issues of women empowerment, gender budget and many areas of development are some of the more discussed topics.
However, during the G20 Indian Presidency, last year, India introduced the concept of “Women-Led Development”. This is a major paradigm shift, because Women-Led Development requires to consider a woman as a voluntary, free, decision-making person, VC said.
Keeping the theoretical importance of this concept, G20 has to move ahead with debates and discussions on development agenda, considering women as active individuals rather than a passive, victimized social category.
"I believe, the conference is a way ahead towards understanding and translating the concept to action. The Women-Led Development, which India introduced, should be carried forward to G20 Brasil presidency in 2024, for which we need to discuss this concept thoroughly from theoretical perspectives as well as policy formulation", VC said, adding that the conference will contribute in formulating a pragmatic action plan towards gender issues and women as central focus in development process.
On Manipuri women it is tempting to argue that the adoption of patriarchal Hindu ideology in an essentially egalitarian society during the 18th and 19th century from above led to the emergence of an ambivalent situation of gradually eroding social status of women while their active socio economic and cultural role in the society remained as before, VC said.
Further, it may also be significant to point out the “Nupi Keithel” and women’s engagement in various traditional production activities. The unique women’s role in the society makes possible to develop a closely knit network of Nupi Keithel from isolated hill villages to rural markets to Khwairamband Keithel. Along with the network, women had developed various forms of capitals, including those of social and cultural capitals, he explained.
"Taking these capitals, women can lead certain areas of development in modern and open societies. Again, in modern social setting, many women lead the way in various fields such as food industry, sports, health care and many more", the VC said, adding that there are still many challenges which have arisen out of our own traditional, inadequate training and low digital literacy. There are also various social, cultural and psychological barriers.
The conference may throw light on the mechanism for overcoming these barriers, he added.
The inaugural event was attended by professor MC Arunkumar of the Centre for Myanmar Studies, MU; Prof Wahengbam Chandbabu Singh, MU Registrar, and Priyadarshi Dash, Associate Professor of RIS New Delhi.
