Women's Day: BRS, Congress point fingers over gender gap in job opportunities

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the ruling Congress party engaged in a verbal sparring match on International Women’s Day on Friday on the unequal opportunities meted to Telangana women in job reservations.

“It is a shame that women have to hold a dharna on International Women’s Day for their rights,” said BRS MLC Kavitha Kalvakuntla, who took part in an agitation at Dharna Chowk here, under the aegis of Bharat Jagruti, against GO 3 linked to women’s reservations in Telangana.

Addressing the gathering, Kavitha expressed her disapproval of the Congress government for putting women in a difficult situation on Women’s Day, an occasion that is joyfully observed worldwide.

‘Employment increased under BRS’

Claiming that reservation has grown by 33 per cent since the inception of Telangana, Kavitha said that during K Chandrashekar Rao’s tenure as the chief minister, the state saw the generation of one lakh employment opportunities.

She expressed her ire at the Congress government for changing its stand on employment opportunities in the state after coming to power. She also criticised chief minister A Revanth Reddy for politicising the death of a female student who died due to personal reasons.

Revanth Reddy, who is an accused in the cash-for-vote scam, turned a blind eye to women’s welfare and reduced the job opportunities for them, she added.

‘GO 3 will hurt job chances for women’

Kavitha made it clear that their struggle would not stop until 33 per cent reservation is provided to women.

“If women are encouraged a little, they will create miracles. The BRS has not done any program that is unfair to girl children. It is the Congress government which introduced GO 3 against women and because of it, injustice will be done to women in jobs. The government should immediately cancel this order and file a petition in the High Court,” she demanded.

The BRS MLC also expressed her displeasure against the Congress government for its ‘anti-women policies.’ She made it clear that any decision taken against the people would be rejected.

“Only 12 per cent of jobs have been given to women in gurukuls due to GO 3. Revanth Reddy is acting as if he knows all laws,” Kavitha said. She also criticised the Congress government for making efforts to place the statue of Rajiv Gandhi instead of Telangana Thalli in the State Legislative Assembly.

Congress fires back

Reacting to Kavitha’s comments, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) official spokesperson Kalva Sujatha termed Kavitha’s protest a diversion from the Delhi liquor policy scam case attached to her.

“The Congress is a women-partisan government and gives more employment opportunities for women. Instead of making baseless allegations on the newly formed government, the BRS should provide its support for the Congress to implement Praja Palana in the state,” Sujatha said and advised Kavitha to stop agitations for political mileage.

Focus on women’s safety

Meanwhile speaking about women’s safety, Varsha Bhargavi, the founder of the NGO Where Are The Women, told NewsMeter that Women’s Day can be properly celebrated only when women can go out alone in the middle of the night and return home safely.

She remarked that politicians and capitalists are the same, responding to the International Women’s Day demonstration organised by Kavitha.

“What prevented Kavitha Kalvakuntla from speaking out about women’s rights during the 10 years that her father KCR served as Telangana’s chief minister? Everyone takes advantage of the situation and pretends to be looking out for the women’s best interests. These are all eyewash campaigns meant to win over female voters,” Varsha Bhargavi said.

She also pointed out that women were underrepresented in the KCR government. “At least now, the newly constituted Congress government’s Cabinet ministers are reachable and willing to listen to the plight of women in society,” she added.