AMN / NEW DELHI
President Ram Nath Kovind has said the participation of women in science must be encouraged in every way possible. Addressing the directors of IISc, IITs and IISERs in the concluding session of the one-day meet at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday Mr Kovind said that none of our developmental goals has any meaning without gender parity and without equal opportunities for our daughters and girl-children.
Praising IITs he said he was happy to know that the institution is taking steps to improve the gender ratio in enrolment and has set a goal of ensuring that by 2020, 20 per cent of B.Tech students are women.
The President said that if gender disparity was not addressed, scientific achievements would be less than perfect and less than desirable. Remembering the stalwarts of scientific research like Vikram Sarabhai, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Satish Dhawan, and many more, the President said what made them different was their ability to develop institutions as well as to groom next generation of scientific administrators.
Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for HRD Satya Pal Singh and AICTE Chairman Anil D Sahasrabudhe were also present on the occasion.