CONGRESS SANDESH COMPLETES ITS SEVEN YEAR

ReportMahila CongressDuring May and June, the Mahila Congress took up important issuesat the national level, besides the normal organizational activities.Following is a summarized report of the activities.POLITICAL TRAINING CAMPS AND CONVENTIONS:Exhaustive political training camps are being held by the MahilaCongress in various zones of the country for cadres from states andzone, which would produce trainers for their states. The aim is totrain about 25 lakh Mahilas per state. The first such three-day campwas held at Delhi from 21 to 23 June, divided in 7 sessions, forDelhi, Haryana, UP, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan and Chandigarh, subjectsvarying from History of Congress and Mahila Congress, to womenrelated issues, to economic policies and foreign policy were taughtby a highly competent panel.The first-ever Mahila Congress convention for Kashmir was held inSrinagar on May 22, attended by over 2,000 women. The AIMCpresident, Dr. Rita Bahuguna Joshi was the chief guest, with PCCpresident Shri Peerzada Md. Sayeed, AIMC incharge of the stateSmt. Alka Lamba, Smt. Neeva Konwar (Member NCW) and Shri G.M.Surari amongst the honorable guests.A two-day political training camp for Rajasthan Mahila Congresswas held at Pushkar on 14 and 15 May, 2005. Inaugurated by AICCgeneral secretary, Shri Ashok Gehlot. AIMC president addressed aMahila meeting at Guwahati, presided by the PMC president, Smt.Neeva Konwar. A conference on atrocities against women wasorganized at Indore. The Tamil Nadu PMC organized a conferencein Chennai attended by more than 1,000 women from self-helpgroups. Smt. Jayanti Natrajan, MP was chief guest. In UP, PraurhaShiksha Jagrukta meeting for women was organized at Bangarmauby Smt. Arti Bajpai. In Gujarat, a district level Sammelan was held atSimaliya for Dahod/ Godhra, while the Amreli, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar,Kutch and Patan/ Mahesana sammelans are due in July.FOR WOMEN’S RESERVATION BILL:The AIMC president, Dr. Rita Bahuguna Joshi met presidents ofwomen’s wings of political parties in the UPA in regard to the Women’sReservation Bill so that a joint consensus could be achieved. ACongress Women Leaders Forum was convened and an interactivesession with Shri Shivraj Patil was held on May 11 at Delhi. Smt.Sheila Dikshit, Smt. Mohsina Kidwai, Smt. Urmila Ben Patel, Smt.Satya Behn, Smt. Kumud Ben Joshi, Smt. Renuka Chaudhary, Smt.Meira Kumar, Smt. Prabha Rao, Dr. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Smt. HemaGomang, Smt. Ranjana Kumari, Smt. Nandini Azad, MPs, MLAs,discussed the suggestions. Unanimously the Forum passedresolution demanding this Bill to be placed and passed in the presentsession of the Parliament.AGAINST ALARMINGLY INCREASING RAPES:The Mahila Congress has actively taken up the issue of women rapeafter Mumbai Court’s judgment on 5 th May. A seminar and interactivesession, “Rape, Law And Society: Is Marriage␣␣An Alternative?” heldon June 6 in Delhi was inaugurated by Smt. Sheila Dikshit. In otherstates also Mahila Congress units will hold awareness andsensitivising seminars, demonstrations, etc., against rape and otheratrocities against women. The DMC at Hissar (Haryana) held onsuch meeting on June 29.IN THE IMRANA RAPE AND FATWA CASE:The AIMC president, Dr. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, accompanied by Dr.Jaya Shukla, Mrs. Renu Poswal and Mrs. Husna Subhani, visitedMuzaffarnagar (Kudana) on July 3, met Mrs. Imrana and to help hera cheque of Rs. 50,000 was given on behalf of AIMC. The AIMC alsopledged to have her deaf-dumb son treated. The Rajasthan PMChas taken up the case of a rape victim, mother of a 7-month-old girlin hospital. The victim is not able to feed her baby due to malnutrition.AGAINST CHILD MARRIAGE:The Mahila Congress under guidance of its national president, Dr.Rita Bahuguna Joshi, observed Akshay Tritiya (May 11) as ‘Bal VivahVirodhi Diwas’. The Mahila Congress presidents of Rajasthan, UP,Bihar, Jharkhand, MP, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Haryana andChandigarh, where this practice is in use, observed the same throughmeans like awareness meetings, processions, etc. The JharkhandPMC, led by its president, Smt. Pratibha Pandey, took out processionsand burnt effigies against this practice. Awaren␣ ess meetings were28Congress SandeshJuly, 2005