As part of the International Women’s Day celebrations, the British Deputy High Commission in Kolkata felicitated East Bengal Club’s women’s team members at Sister Nivedita University (SNU), New Town on Wednesday. During the programme, a session on ‘Gender Equality through financial and digital empowerment of Women’ was held.
East Bengal players at the event
Along with senior employees of the British deputy high commission and East Bengal Club players, students and faculty members of the sports department of SNU were also present. The event kickstarted with a session on gender equality. The main speaker was Debasmita Ghosh, associate director, Accenture.
Students of Sister Nivedita University
Following this, a chat session among the team manager, captain and the coach of East Bengal women’s team was held. It was moderated by SNU students. “A woman footballer has to go through a number of hurdles. Starting from breaking barriers to facing inequality, the road is often not very smooth,” said a speaker.SNU was chosen as the venue for the event because of its dedicated sports department.Several women players from the university have performed well at the national level and they were also felicitated. According to Indrani Sarkar, manager of East Bengal women’s team, all the 27 players were extremely excited about the event. “As a former footballer, I can say that these events play a very crucial part. They honour and encourage us to do better. Besides, with their hospitality and food, the event was memorable,” Sarkar added.
Acting British Deputy High Commissioner Peter Cook
Peter Cook, acting British Deputy High Commissioner, Kolkata said empowering women is a key part of the UK’s new gender strategy. “I was so glad to join Sister Nivedita University in Kolkata on Wednesday to honour them. I also had the pleasure to meet the East Bengal women’s football team members and enjoyed hearing so many stories of gender leadership and gender campaigns. I am delighted to add my voice in support of so many women in the struggle for full equality,” he added.
