Edu, economic independence must for women empowerment: Prez

President Pranab Mukherjee today stressed on the need of education and economic independence to empower women saying these would help them understand their problems and develop a consciousness to look for solutions.
"On many occasions, the economic value of the contribution of women is not highlighted. The contribution of women is also through many services which are not accounted for in economic terms. This should be changed," he told Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO) delegation at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Outlining other steps to empower women, he said the third aspect which is important in this context is effective implementation of legal rights granted to women through various laws, while the fourth is creation of social awareness in this regard.

Mukherjee said a society which cannot respect women cannot be called a civilised one.
Stressing on the necessity to change the mental frame and do away with prejudices, he said there was a need for involvement of all sections of society in order to sensitise people to give women their due and empower them.
Emphasising that it was necessary to avoid tokenism, the President said though this (empowering women) may seem like a long and arduous journey but success can be achieved through commitment and sustained efforts.