Gender parity award for Dangal dad Mahavir Singh Phogat

Mahavir Singh Phogat, a real life hero and father of wrestler Geeta Phoghat, along with Apollo Hospital founder Prathap C Reddy, bagged Ficci’s gender parity award for their contribution in harnessing the talents of their daughters.

Mahavir Singh Phogat, a real life hero and father of wrestler Geeta Phoghat, along with Apollo Hospital founder Prathap C Reddy, bagged Ficci’s gender parity award for their contribution in harnessing the talents of their daughters.

Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Defence Arun Jaitley present ICON award to Wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat during the 33rd Annual Session of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI Photo)

Phogat was accompanied by his Commonwealth Games gold medal winner daughter Geeta at the event that marked the launch of the country’s first gender parity index by Ficci’s Ladies Organisation (FLO), which will
gauge how women fare in a male dominated corporate sector of India. Industry captains lauded Phogat for empowering his daughters, which was replicated in Bollywood’s block-buster film Dangal, starring Aamir Khan.

Leading film director Farha Khan, fashion designer Anita Dongre, HDFC managing director Renu Sud Karnad and Hindustan Times group chairperson Shobhana Bhartia also got the Ficci Ladies Organisation ICON awards.

Giving away the awards, finance minister Arun Jaitley said India must move towards greater gender parity.

Amid a challenging global economic scenario, Jaitley said India is the only country which is willing to reform.

Vinita Bimbhet, president of FLO, said, “Gender equality is intrinsically linked to sustainable development. The overall objective of gender equality is a society in which women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all spheres of life.”

While the Constitution grants all citizens equality of status and opportunity, she said “social and economic development indicators show that we are far from attaining gender parity”.

World Bank data show female labour force participation rates have fallen over the past three decades from 35% in 1990 to 27% in 2014. To achieve gender parity, men and women must have access to the same resources and the same opportunities.