Guwahati, March 8: Byatikram Mass Awareness and Development Organisation organised a slew of events, including a series of short street plays on the theme Beti bachao, beti padhao, on International Women's Day today.
The plays were staged by a students' group from Pragjyotish College in front of Dighalipukhuri tank.
The events are being held in association with The Telegraph .
The short plays had subjects like child marriage, female foeticide, girls' education, human trafficking and molestation connected to the Centre's Beti bachao, beti padhao social campaign on saving and educating girls.
The play on child marriage depicted a minor being married off to a much older man and how a citizens' group is able to stop the marriage with the help of the police, landing the parents of the would-be bride behind bars. In the play on female foeticide, a couple refuse to accept the advice of the man's mother to abort a female foetus and decides to bring a girl child into the world. Similarly, in another short play, a mother rebels against her husband's decision not to allow their daughter to pursue higher education and the girl goes on to become a topper in her class, bringing recognition to her family.
The event began in the morning with a kabaddi competition for women at Lakhidhar Bora Khetra, in which teams from different places within and outside the city took part. A team of Veerangana, the female commando force of Assam police, which was the champion last year, also participated today but failed to defend the title. The Pub Kamrup Kriya Sanstha, a professional women's kabaddi team from Sonapur, emerged as the winners while Azara Anchalik Kriya Sanstha, from the outskirts of the city, was adjudged the runners-up team.
A musical chairs contest was also held as part of the celebration and a number of girls from the kabaddi teams participated. Prarthana Saharia of Pragjyotish college won the contest.
SBI honours women: The State Bank of India felicitated several women achievers from different fields on International Women's Day at a function held in their local head office today. The women included Padma Shri Eli Ahmed (Assamese literature), Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority CEO Varnali Deka, deputy superintendent of police (Guwahati metro traffic) Amanjeet Kaur, superintendent of police in-charge of chief minister's security Subashini Sankaran, writer Jahanara Begum, social activist Rupa Hazarika, founder of Deepsikha - an organisation which has been working exclusively for the care of cancer patients - Mrinmoyee Baruah, social worker Trishna Saikia, entrepreneur Tanushree Hazarika and designer Sanjukta Dutta.
