The Madhya Pradesh Government on Tuesday announced an award of Rs1 lakh in honour of nurse Aruna Shanbaug who died on Monday at a Mumbai hospital after having remained in a vegetative state for 42 long years.
The award would be given to any organisation working against exploitation of women. Participating in a women panchayat here on Tuesday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan paid tribute to Shanbaug and said the time had come to amend the law.
Stating that whatever happened with Shanbaug was painful, Chouhan described her as “the symbol of respect”. He said the mentality of a patriarchal society needed to be changed. “How long will the women continue to suffer exploitationIJ”
He said the law needed to be re-evaluated and amended so that no woman had to face this fate again. Paying homage to Aruna Shanbaug, Chouhan said she had suffered for forty-two long years for her dignity in India’s male dominated society.
To remember the brave woman and pay deep respect to her, Chouhan said the state government would award any person or organisation that worked against the exploitation of women and empowered them in society, with a cash prize of Rs1 lakh.
The State Government is also coming up with its first ‘Woman Policy’. Announcing another ‘first’ in any Indian State, the State police has been mandated the task making safe lodging arrangement for any woman if she has to make a casual overnight stay in any of the cities. She would just have to give a call to Police Helpline number.
The state government has also said that any person or organisation that works against child marriage, according to the new woman policy, will be awarded with a cash prize of Rs51,000. Besides female staff in government services will be entitled to avail two years’ maternity leave during their entire service period.
Another scheme has been launched to ensure that state should bear lodging expenses with a cap of Rs2,000 per month incurred by any girl student, particularly those who migrate from smaller towns to cities. Besides the provision of 33 per cent reservation in police service for women, the woman policy also ensures that the state would meet higher education expenses of meritorious girl students.