Harsimrat Kaur Badal gives clarion call to eliminate ‘gender discrimination

 

 Sri Anandpur Sahib, June 17: Union Food Processing Industries Minister Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal today gave a clarion call to stop discrimination against girls and said elimination of gender discrimination would go a long way in shaping a healthy society and nation.

                While presiding over a mammoth congregation in Mata Nanki Istri Gurmat Samagam here on the beginning of three day long celebrations of 350th anniversary of the foundation of Sri Anandpur Sahib, Mrs. Badal said women should take the lead in purging gender discrimination from society.
Recalling the role played by women to safeguard and strengthening of Sikh Panth, Mrs. Badal said we all should learn a lesson from the lives of those brave women who had served as forerunners in  protecting the rights and interests of women. "We should tread the path shown by these great women".  She also called upon the  women fraternity to make Mai Bhago their ideal to combat social menaces.
Paying obeisance to great Sikh Gurus and the sacred land of Sri Anandpur Sahib, Mrs. Badal said this was not only sacred land but that historic place where 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh Ji formed Khasla Panth on 13 April 1699. Welcoming the Sangat thronged from across the globe to participate in 350th years of foundation day, Mrs. Badal said that our Gurus had made peerless sacrifices against the tyranny of the then rulers and we have a big responsibility to fulfill the dreams dreamt by our Gurus. Mrs. Badal also thanked Punjab Government and all religious institutions for celebrating this mega event on such a large scale.
Meanwhile, the Members of Istri Akali Dal under the leadership of President of Istri Akali Dal Bibi Jagir Kaur honoured Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal with a siropa (a robe of honour).
Other prominent women leaders present on the occasion included Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Mrs. Farzana Aalam, Mrs. Vaninder Kaur Loomba, Mrs. Harpreet Kaur Mukhmailpur, both MLAs, Former MP Bibi Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, Chairman Punjab State Women’s Commission Bibi Paramjeet Kaur Landra, Member Punjab State Women’s Commission, Bibi Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia, Chairperson District Planning Committee, Bibi Veerpal Kaur Tarmala, SGPC Member Bibi Kiranjot Kaur, former Mayor Mrs. Harjinder Kaur, Bibi Gurdev Kaur Sangha and Bibi Rajwinder Kaur Raju, both Senior Vice Presidents of Istri Akali Dal,  Mrs. Manju Qureshi, Bibi Satbir Kaur Manhera etc.

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DO YOU KNOW PUNJAB IS THE BEST

 

Girls should play proactive role in women empowerment

Badal: Lauding the indomitable spirit of Punjabi girls, Union Minister Human Resource Development Smriti Irani exhorted them to play a proactive role in women empowerment at the national level.
“The girls in Punjab inherit indomitable spirit of courage, skill, resilience and dedication and they should play a proactive role in women empowerment,” the Union Minister said during her visit to Dashmesh College for girls.
Emphasizing on the need for imparting quality education to girls, she said educated girls could prove to be important pillars of a democratic country like India thereby contributing in its overall development.
The senior BJP leader called for an all round development of the girls and said if given an opportunity to showcase ability they could do any task and achieve their target, a statement quoting her said.
Lauding Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal for spearheading the campaign ‘Nanhi Chhaan’ against female foeticide and protection of trees, Irani said it was the need of the hour to eliminate these ‘social maladies’ as she termed the programme as a ‘nobel initiative’.
Stating that the Centre has decided to hold the national arts and craft festival in December this year on the theme of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, the Union Minister urged the students from Punjab to make their presence felt by showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the state.
Besides, cementing the bond of unity among the students of various states this festival would be also instrumental in perpetuating the cultural legacy of the country among them, she said.
The Union Minister also lauded Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who was present on the occasion, for establishing this college of high repute and equipping it with world class facilities, the release said.

50 colleges & 2,000 centres for women empowerment - Punjab

The Punjab government is about to set 50 colleges and 2000 centers for skill training under the Skill India Mission. The 2000 centers are to set up at the village level to enhance the skills of girls. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister, had held a meeting which was attended by Union Food processing minister, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, state cabinet ministers and others to discuss about the same. These colleges will be run by 3 universities that is Punjab University, Guru Nanak Dev University and Punjabi University. According to an official statement, these colleges will be running short term courses. The colleges will start at the cost of Rs.20 lakhs each and will help 6000 students in different ways to start their own company, become entrepreneurs and job providers. The duration of the course will be from 1 to 3 months, for unemployed girls to become independent. Girls will be able to set up their own shops or small units which will lead to their empowerment. The courses will be designed after discussion with various departments of Industry and commerce, Agriculture, Food Processing, Technical Education and Industrial Training. Deputy Chief Minister will also be taking help of various departments to supervise the selection and design of these courses.

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Women empowerment tops her priority list

 

  Women empowerment tops her priority list  

 

The SAD candidate for the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, today said her top priority was empowerment of women and drive against female foeticide. After filing her nomination papers, Harsimrat said she would strive for better education and health services for women in rural and urban areas of Punjab. Development of the Malwa belt was her electoral plank. She said she would also launch a crusade against drug abuse that was growing in the Malwa belt. She seeks to reach to the heart of the electorate on the strength of her profile as a non-political, highly religious and humanitarian background, backed by her parental legacy as scion of the Majithia clan.
Harsimrat, popularly called Beebaji, although has respect for all religions and strongly believes in the concept of one God but also feels that one must be true to the religion one is born in. She has been regular with her recitation of daily hymns from the Gurbani.
Born with a silver spoon, Harsimrat has always believed in pushing herself through tough grounding in life.
After a degree in textile designing from the South Delhi Polytechnic, this Lorreto Convent alumnus took up a low profile job as the junior most employee at Global Ventures, a merchandise concern in New Delhi in 1988 on a salary of Rs 1,250 per month, one tenth of which went to religious and humanitarian causes. But she made quick progress and, in less than two years, she was holding the second highest post in the company as Assistant Manager. She resigned to get married to Sukhbir Badal in 1991.
A strong believer in turning every event from a ritual to a meaningful milestone, she started a school for street children in Sultanpur area of Delhi. The school now has 55 students, all their needs fully taken care of by her efforts.
She says most of her business income goes to humanitarian causes like education of the girl child and marrying off girls from the needy families.
She is also a regular contributor to the old age home in Badal village run by CM Parkash Singh Badal. Her social and humanitarian zeal saw her spearheading a pioneering movement, known as Nanhi Chaan, on environment and girl child.

‘Malwa villages to have RO systems by next year’

‘Malwa villages to have RO systems by next year’ 

Budhlada (Mansa), Nov 11
Member of Parliament from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal today announced that all towns and villages in her constituency, which were suffering from deadly diseases like cancer due to contaminated groundwater, would get the ultra modern reverse osmosis (RO) plants installed by October 30, next year.

Addressing public meetings after inaugurating a number of RO systems here today, she flayed the Congress should as Bathinda and Mansa districts were suffering from the bane of cancer because the Congress allegedly played into the hands of the ‘pesticides lobby’ and turned a blind eye to the uncontrolled use of pesticides in this region.

She claimed it was the SAD-BJP government that took steps to get Malwa rid of the curse of contaminated water by installing RO systems in each village and more than 500 villages had already been covered under the project.

Harsimrat said she had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately sanction a cancer institute in Bathinda on the pattern of AIIMS and a special project to deal with the underground water problem of Malwa region without any delay.

She urged the Punjab Congress leaders to rise above the party lines and press upon their Central leadership for the noble cause.

The MP also inaugurated five RO plants at village Chak Bhaike, Uddat Saidewala, Malikpur Bhimra, Alampur Mandran and Kashampur Chhina, besides distributing development grants worth Rs 50 lakh to seven villages during her sangat darshan and inaugurating water works at village Malikpur Bhimra. 

Speaking after inaugurating two day seminar on 'Female Foeticide

 

Speaking after inaugurating two day seminar on 'Female Foeticide: Role of Society and Technology' organized by the department of Social Work of Punjabi University in collaboration with the ICSSR (North Western) Regional Centre Chandigarh here today, Mrs. Harsimrat Badal said that it was sad day for proud people of Punjab that we are having the dubious distinction of lowest male-female ratio in the country. Every fifth household in Punjab commits female feoticide. "In our country every year 5 lakh girl children were restricted to take birth out which 1 Lakh cases were from Punjab", says Harsimrat. She said that it is matter of national shame for us that we are discussing on an issue like female foeticide in this era where women were competitive to men in every field. She said that if things continued this way boys won't get brides leading to major social crisis in the society.
Stressing upon the need of educating the girl child, making them self-dependent Mrs. Badal said that the Punjab Government should open girls schools nearer to every village, facilitating the education of girl child. She said that during the summer and winter vocation of the school, we should organize vocational training of girl child to increase her employability in the job market and also empowering here with skills to start self-employment ventures. 

Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal founder patron of `Nanhi Chhaan'

Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal founder patron of `Nanhi Chhaan' and wife of Deputy Chief Minister S. Sukhbir Singh Badal giving a call to wage a collective war against female foeticide said that religion can play an important role in bringing lasting change in our attitude especially concerning preference for male child.