Governor Anandiben Patel on Thursday urged young women to pursue education and careers while also learning values from their mothers, saying education should prepare them to balance professional life with family responsibilities after marriage.
Addressing the convocation at Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University (CSJMU) here, Patel said girls should not focus only on winning medals and building careers but also imbibe sanskar (values) at home. Referring to household skills, she remarked that a daughter-in-law should not have to depend on a mobile phone for instructions if her mother-in-law asked her to prepare halwa.
Patel conferred degrees and medals on meritorious students. Women dominated this year’s gold medal list, with 42 of the 51 gold medals going to female students.
She advised parents to closely monitor children studying in schools and colleges and said girls should be educated, empowered and financially independent. Referring to a recent incident in which a young woman died allegedly after being abducted and gang-raped, Patel said such crimes highlighted the need to make girls stronger and more self-reliant.
Emphasising the importance of ‘garbh sanskar’ (prenatal care and practices), the governor directed CSJMU and other state universities to prepare a curriculum on the subject and ensure participation of pregnant women. Citing an increase in disability prevalence from 3% to 4%, she urged expectant mothers to undergo regular ultrasound examinations and seek timely medical advice so that foetal abnormalities, if detected, could be addressed in accordance with doctors’ recommendations.
{{/usCountry}}Emphasising the importance of ‘garbh sanskar’ (prenatal care and practices), the governor directed CSJMU and other state universities to prepare a curriculum on the subject and ensure participation of pregnant women. Citing an increase in disability prevalence from 3% to 4%, she urged expectant mothers to undergo regular ultrasound examinations and seek timely medical advice so that foetal abnormalities, if detected, could be addressed in accordance with doctors’ recommendations.
{{/usCountry}}“The more you serve your mother-in-law, the more peaceful your family life will be,” adding that many day-to-day problems would resolve themselves. She also encouraged students to cultivate the habit of reading books,” Patel said.
Highlighting healthcare initiatives, Patel welcomed mobile medical care vans, saying they could provide better healthcare in villages than many community and primary health centres. She said CSR-supported programmes had reached 62,000 Anganwadi centres and more than three lakh girls had been vaccinated. Calling for wider cervical cancer prevention, she noted that universities had been running vaccination campaigns for the past three years and that the state government had now decided to provide free vaccination to 14-year-old girls. She directed district magistrates and police authorities to ensure 100% annual coverage.
The governor also asked universities to organise competitions based on the eminent personalities after whom they are named, saying many students were unaware of their contributions. Praising CSJMU vice-chancellor Prof Vinay Kumar Pathak and his team, she said the university had undergone a significant transformation between 2019 and 2026.
Patel said online food deliveries had been banned on university campuses after authorities found some drug traffickers were allegedly using food delivery services to supply narcotics to students. She added that hostel residents had been barred from ordering food online and expressed concern over the growing water crisis, urging future generations to prioritise water conservation.
Earlier, the governor travelled from Lucknow to Kanpur by Utasrg Express instead of by road, apparently because of adverse weather conditions. She reached Kanpur Central railway station at around 9.15 am before proceeding to the university.