VSJMC Conference Discusses Women Empowerment and Media

The two-day National Conference on ‘Women Empowerment, Skill-Enhancement and Media: Prospects and Challenges’ was organised by Vivekananda School of Journalism and Mass Communication (VSJMC) on April 22 – 23. Mr K G Suresh, Director General, IIMC, delivered the keynote address.

The panellists in the inaugural session were:

• Ms. Bhashwati Mukherjee, former IFS and Ambassador to Netherlands, graced the occasion as the chief guest;
• Ms. Vandana Mehra, Regional Communication Specialist, World Ban
• Prof. J L Gupta, Executive, Chairman, Academic Council, VIPS
• Prof. Charu Lata Singh, Dean

The speakers stressed on building gender sensitive and gender neutral society and underlined the significant role the media need to play in the process.

The plenary session guests included:

• Mr. Ashok Shrivastav, Senior News Anchor, DD News
• Ms. Richa Anirudh, News Anchor, IBN7
• Dr. Vaneeta Shanker, Executive Director, SILF
• Ms. Rashmi Anand, Writer and social worker.
• Prof. Ambrish Saxena, Dean, Research, and Publications, was the moderator for the session.

The conference dedicated one session to UG and PG students who presented their papers on topics like ‘Feminism: The Illusion of Women empowerment’, ‘Cyberspace Savagery against Women: problems, Perspective and Solutions’ and ‘Gender Equality and Women Empowerment’

The chairpersons for other technical sessions included:

• Dr Namrata, HOD, GNDU, Jalandhar
• Capt Dr B Rajender Prasad, HOD, Political Science, DAR College, Krishna, AP
• Dr. K Swaroop Kumar, HOD, Economics
• DAR College, Krishna, AP
• Ms Pragati Bhalla, HOD Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi
• Dr. Pooja Rana, HOD, Amity University, Manesar, Haryana

More than 40 researchers presented their papers and shared various issues on the theme with the audience in six technical sessions over two days. The national conference received research papers from across 17 states including Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhatisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Maharashtra, Bihar, Assam and Hyderabad.