How to tackle stray dog menaceIJ “Find a tree,” was Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Maneka Gandhi’s suggestion to KN Balasubramanian Aiyer, a Government official as he chatted with the Minister on Facebook on Monday.
Maneka trended on social media as she minced no words in speaking her mind on a slew of issues in her day-long interaction with masses.
like Aiyer, several others voiced their concerns over the stray dog menace in the area forcing children and senior citizens to stay indoors. To another query on stray dogs, she said, “Dogs are not the problem there. It is the political parties who are using them as an excuse and are using their own newspapers to exaggerate in order to embarrass each other.”
Maneka also took the opportunity to propagate the cause of vegetarianism. “Meat is not necessary in any diet. It brings disease and increases human and animal suffering. If you love animals then you need to be vegetarian,” she said.
In another potentially controversial statement, Maneka said the role of men in gender sensitisation was critical since “all violence is male-generated.”
Maneka also detailed the plans of the Ministry to push the cause of gender sensitivity. She said that her Ministry was working on a concept of ‘Gender Champions’ in schools under which boys will be awarded for being “particularly respectful and helpful” to girls.
“Men’s role is the most critical since all the violence is male-generated. One of the ways to tackle this is at the school stage. So, we have started something which will go into effect in a few months. This will be called ‘Gender Champions’ under which boys who have been respectful and helpful to girls will be rewarded,” she said.
“Prizes will be given to a person in each class annually. It can also be given to a girl who has been outstanding in her bravery or attitude, etc.,” she added.
To check crimes against women and enable gender parity, Maneka said that her Ministry was trying to push the Centre and State Governments to set aside 33 per cent quota for women in police force in every State and Union Territory, besides recruiting a special woman police officer in every village.
On other issues, Gandhi said that India needed a new school every seven minutes in order to give quality education to slum children.
“Statistically, India needs a new school every seven minutes. Ours is the largest school system in the world. I agree we can do better,” she said.
The live-chat was part of an ongoing effort to enhance participation for its ‘100 Women Initiative’ to recognise women achievers. The Ministry claimed to have reached out to “64,649 people and over 700+ questions were asked.”