Hyderabad: All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) State General Secretary, Mallu Lakshmi, has expressed concern over the rising number of rape cases against girls in the country, criticising both central and state governments for their lack of action.

Speaking at a recent Students’ Federation of India (SFI) conference, she drew attention to the contradiction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Save the daughter” campaign and the reality of frequent violent crimes against women. She highlighted the lack of legal recourse for many victims and demanded that sanitary napkins, which were previously free, be provided to students in all Gurukul schools.

The conference, chaired by SFI State Assistant Secretary M Mamata at the Hyderabad City CITU office, also saw Lakshmi demand the removal of GST on sanitary napkins. She raised concerns about the poor facilities in girls’ hostels, Gurukuls, and KGBVs, which lack adequate rooms and washrooms, and urged the government to address these issues.

Lakshmi also spoke about the prevalence of anaemia among female students due to improper nutrition, calling for the provision of nourishing food and an increase in mess charges to facilitate this.

She called on students to be inspired by historical figures and their aspirations. She also urged them to protest against the negative influence of “obscene content, double meaning videos, drugs, ganja, alcohol, and cigarettes” on social media.

The government was asked to allocate more funds for women’s education and to develop girls’ hostels, universities, and other educational institutions. The conference also saw the introduction of a plan to solve the problems of female students by state convenor M Pooja.

SFI state president S Rajinikanth and secretary T Nagaraj also addressed the conference. The event was attended by state assistant secretary Deepika and state committee members including Ramya, Suma, and Karthik.