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Hon'ble Smt. Ela Ramesh Bhatt, who is a notable figure in the movement to empower the weak and poor self employed women and the guiding spirit behind the organization called Self Employed Women's Association, popularly known as 'SEWA', Shri Suresh Pachauriji, the Hon'ble Minister of State for Personnel, Shri Pratyush Sinha, Central Vigilance Commissioner, Shri Satyanand Mishra, Secretary, Personnel, former Directors of CBI, former Directors, IB, Secretaries to the Government of India, Chiefs of Central Police Orgaisations, family members of Shri D.P. Kohli, distinguished guests, my colleagues from CBI, friends from the media and ladies and gentlemen.
2. It is my proud privilege to welcome you all the 8th D.P. Kohli Memorial Lecture. This occasion marks the foundation day of the Central Bureau of Investigation. The D.P. Kohli Memorial Lecture is an annual even held to commemorate the memory of late Shri Dharamnath Prasad Kohli, the founding Director, of CBI. Shri D.P. Kohli, who headed the Delhi Special Police Establishment, founded the Central Bureau of Investigation on 1st April, 1963 and remained its Director till 1968. This memorial lecture is our humble tribute to this outstanding police officer who stood for the cardinal values of professional policing. Shri D.P. Kohli was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1969 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Indian Police in general and the Central Bureau of Investigation in particular. He exhibited exemplary leadership skills and laid emphasis on team-work and excellence in investigation.
3. The strond foundation laid by Shri D.P. Kohli has helped the Central Bureau of Investigation evolve into a world-class investigating agency, which has over the years exhibited extraordinary professionalism and efficiency and has won the confidence of all - the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary as well as the people of our country. The motto of the CBI - Industry, Impartiality and Integrity - was also the brainchild of Shri D.P. Kohli. In order to identify, acknowledge and honour good work by Constables/Head Constables who are the basic building blocks of CBI, Shri Kohli instituted an annual award for the most outstanding performance shown by a Constable or a Head Constable of the CBI during the course of his duty. The winner of Shri D.P. Kohli Award for the best detective Constable/Head Constable this year is Constable Shri T. Subba Reddy of CBI, ACB, Hyderabad. The award will be presented today by our Hon'ble Minister of State for Personnel, Shri Suresh Pachauriji. I congratulate the winner and hope that his accomplishment will encourage others to follow in his footsteps.
4. Ladies and gentlemen, we are extremely fortunate and honoured to have in our midst, the illustrious and pathbreaking social worker Smt. Ela Ramesh Bhatt. A Lawyer by training, distinguished trade unionist, eminent social worker and a crusader for women's rights, Smt. Bhatt has devoted her entire life to the up-liftment of the weak and poor women. Her outstanding contribution to the cause of women in the unorganised sector, her incessant struggle for their emancipation through self-reliance and self-employment, and for upholding the principles of simplicity, non-violence, sanctity of labour and human values is universally recognised. She has been the guiding star for millions of women workers, mostly in unorganized sector and she has shown them that their collective strength can help them overcome their handicaps.
5. Her pioneering work in organizing working women in informal sector led to the formation of SEWA in the year 1972. One of the first difficulties they encountered was in registering the very SEWA with the government as a Union because, it was argued that under the law, a Union was only for those who worked for someone else. Since the members of SEWA were self-employed, the organization did not fall into that legal category. However, unrelenting efforts of Smt. Bhatt successfully convinced the Government that a Union could exist for the economic development of its members as well as for protection against exploitation by employers and eventually SEWA was registered in 1972 under the Trade Union Act of 1926.
6. SEWA has two goals - to organize women workers to achieve self-employment, work security, income security and social security; and second, to make them individually and collectively self-reliant and economically independent. It is active in the field of self-employed women's rights, cooperatives, banking, insurance, health and capacity-building.
7. Smt. Ela Bhatt was nominated by the President of India to Rajya Sabha in 1986. She was a member of the Planning Commission of India from 1989 to 1991. She has been chairperson and a founder member of Women's World Banking, Chairperson of SEWA Cooperative Bank and of International Alliance of Street Vendors etc. She is also a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation of the US and has also found time to serve on the advisory boards of the Gujarat State Adult Education Committee and the International SOS Villages.
8. Her pioneering work has found universal admiration and recognition and she has been conferred numerous prestigious awards and honours. She was awarded 'Padma Shri' by the Government of India in the year 1985 and 'Padma Bhushan' in the year 1986. She has also been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1977, the Right Livelihood Award widely known as the Alternative Nobel Prize in 1984, the Asia Society Award, the FICCI Millennium Life Time Achievement Award, the Economic Times Award for Business Women and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics and Management. Many national and international universities have conferred honorary Doctorates of Letters, Humanities and Social Sciences upon her.
9. Today, in her keynote address, Smt. Bhatt is going to share her thoughts on the subject "Freedom and Security - Women's View". The choice of topic appears natural and also obvious, what with her lifetime of efforts to ensure rightful place for women in social and economic arena.
10. Ladies and gentlemen, our revered Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru had said, and I quote "You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women". Unfortunately, however, even after half a century of independence, the status of women in our country remains unenviable due to a host of socio-economic and historical reasons. The key challenges of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, maternal health & malnutrition, female foeticide, domestic & social violence, gender bias & discrimination, non-proportional participation in governance and diverse social handicaps pose as much a challenge today as these did 50 years back. All these issues are intricately related to ensuring Freedom & Security. It is though a tribute to resilience of Indian women that they have been able to deal with these handicaps in their own inimitable and courageous way and turn even adversities into opportunities.
11. Not that the nation has been unconcerned about this state of affairs. All along, continuous initiatives - both public and private, legislative and political, social and economic - have been taken to improve the lot of women in our country. The principle of gender equality was consciously enshrined in the Indian Constitution with a view to ensure socio-economic development of women and upholding their political rights and participation in decision-making. The Constitution does not merely stop at granting equality to women but goes further to enjoin upon and empower the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in their favour. In accordance with the Constitutional obligations, all round measures have been initiated to enhance and ensure proportional participation of women in all aspects of governance and social and economic activities. Women in India now participate in all activities such as education, media, art and culture, service sectors, science and technology, etc.
12. The great philosopher Plato said, "Nothing can be more absurd that the practice that prevails in our country of men and women not following the same pursuits with all their strengths and with one mind, for thus, the state instead of being whole is reduced to half". All our goals to transform India into a global socio-economic powerhouse will remain paper dreams unless we accord women, the pride of place in our social, economic and political arena. Who better than Smt. Bhatt herself to speak on this subject so crucial to our evolution as a leading nation in the world?
13. I take this opportunity to extend a very warm welcome to Shri Suresh Pachauriji, Hon'ble Minister of State for Personnel, who has been the guiding spirit behind every step and initiative taken by CBI in the last couple of years. He has always been extremely kind to find time for every important function of CBI and has been a constant source of encouragement for all of us.
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Present here on this august occasion. We are encouraged by their benign presence. I also very warmly welcome members of the family of Shri D.P. Kohli. I am also thankful to all the distinguished guests who have spared their valuable time to be.
15. May I now invite Shri Suresh Pachauriji to address us all on this occasion.
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