Hyderabad: The STREE Summit 2.0 concluded on Tuesday with a strong call to accelerate action for women’s empowerment. The summit brought together voices from government, law enforcement, industry, and civil society to discuss challenges and solutions in promoting gender equality and safety. The summit’s theme – Accelerate Action for Women Empowerment, echoed the focus of International Women’s Day.

On Tuesday, the sessions were well planned with the panelists who were not only subject matter experts but also citizens continuously working for the betterment of communities and individuals.

On this occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu stated that the STREE Summit is not a forum for conversation, but a commitment to ‘Respect, Equality and Empowerment for All’. He said “A safe, equal and empowered society is not a dream but a destination we all should walk towards together.

Telangana government is empowering the Self-Help Groups by providing them financial aid of Rs 21,000 crore, apart from creating a market for their products and services,” he added.

The Deputy CM said that the State of Telangana is fully committed to the empowerment of women. “It was Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar who gave enormous power to women through Hindu Court Bill and highlighted the State government’s initiatives for women and girls spanning financial aid, safety, entrepreneurship, health, and representation.” highlighted Bhatti Vikramarka.

Addressing the gathering, Hyderabad City police Commissioner C V Anand said, “STREE stands for ‘She Triumphs Through Respect, Equality and Empowerment’.” He highlighted that the current girl-child ratio of 942 to 1,000 is alarming and could adversely impact the nation’s growth.

The discretion against women should end at home as well as work places. C V Anand, who also serves as the chairman of the Hyderabad City Security Council (HCSC), mentioned that more women are joining the police force and there are seven women police stations in seven zones and out of 19 DCP’s, eight of them are women. Women officers are part of patrol, blue colt, traffic police and three SHO’s are women officers.”

The summit featured five panel discussions on key issues – Breaking Barriers: The Evolving Journey of Women in Leadership, Clicks to Consequences: Addiction & Exploitation in the Digital, POSH Act: A Decade of Learning & Case Reporting, Health and Emotional Wellbeing - Elements of Holistic health, nutrition, maternal care, emotional wellbeing, and Towards Accelerating Action. These sessions focused on the outcomes and actionable items going forward.

The summit featured four in-depth panel discussions addressing pivotal topics on women’s safety and health. To cover a larger section of population and also ensure that every enterprise and community is covered, HCSC is collaborating with the Department of Women and Child Welfare, Telangana Government and signed an MoU on creating awareness on the women and children related laws and implementation of such laws.