‘Give women their due’

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil says Women were equal partners in India’s struggle for Independence and they deserve an equal share in the country’s prosperity, reports Aloke Tikku.

Women were equal partners in India’s struggle for Independence and they deserve an equal share in the country’s prosperity, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil said on Sunday. She was speaking at a function to celebrate Women’s Day at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

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The audience was a group of poor women “who had fought adversity and opposition at home” to educate themselves and start working — like Kamlesh from a slum in south Delhi. After marriage she decided that she had to learn how to read and write. Today, she teaches others like her. Lending a voice to such women, Patil said: “Women aren’t weak. It is just that they do not get opportunities.”