CHENNAI: No society can call itself civilised if it does not honour women, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday after he inaugurated centenary celebrations of the Women's Indian Association (WIA) at the Theosophical Society here.
Addressing the gathering, Mukherjee said the recognition of women in the country's growth has not been taken into account while calculating the GDP, which reflects the attitude of discrimination of the society.
"It's really a dichotomy in our society where we call women as a source of power, embodiment of motherhood. But unfortunately, we are really disturbed when day-in and day-out we are confronted by news of the brutalising of women.
Can any society be described as civilised if it doesn't honour its women?" Mukherjee said.
"When we calculate our GDP (Gross Domestic Product), we take into account various factors. But we do not take into account the contributions made by our womenfolk in whatever capacity they may work," he said.
Despite equal rights, the representation of women in Lok Sabha is just 11.3% against the global average of 22.8%, he added.
Mukherjee said without appropriate reservation, representation of women will be difficult to achieve on basis of voluntary actions by political parties and institutions. Reservations provide Constitutional guarantees and earmarking of constituencies to be represented by women, the President said.
