International Women's Day is observed on 8th of March every year. This year, the celebration is under the theme "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality" in order to recognize and celebrate the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. This will facilitate in bridging the digital gender gap on economic and social inequalities and protecting the rights of women and girls especially in the event of digital violence against women.
It gives me immense pleasure to see the impact of digital technology in helping women of A&N Islands in accessing different welfare schemes like Widow, Destitute, Old Age and Disability Pensions, different revenue related certificates, continuous growth monitoring of women and children, financial benefits under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, integration of One Stop Centre with Women Helpline and Emergency Response Support System etc. through e-district portal, Poshan tracker and other software applications without physically visiting different offices and eliminating the interference of middlemen.
This Administration is constantly endeavouring to ensure safety and security of women. This is being done through Women Helpline integrated with Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) by which a woman in need or in distress can access the required help facility by dialling single helpline number 112 irrespective of the nature of assistance required.
The adoption of digital technology has also been playing an important role in propagating the message of gender equality and in planning, measuring and monitoring interventions that result in substantial improvement in sex ratio at Birth, decreasing incidents of violence against women and children, growth in gross enrolment of girls in schools etc.
Further, through e-learning, employment opportunities for women in private and public sector in software and hardware field etc. in A&N Islands are also expected to increase. I urge all stakeholders to adopt available technology for universal coverage of women empowerment programmes among the people of this UT.
On this occasion, I appeal to all Islanders to recognize and honour women for their contribution in transforming our society.
Admiral D K Joshi
PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM (Retd.)
Lt. Governor, A&N Islands &
Vice-Chairman, Islands Development Agency