Speaker Om Birla leads women’s conference in Tirupati

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will inaugurate a two-day national conference of the Committee on Empowerment of Women on September 14. The event will bring together leaders from across the country, including Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Andhra Pradesh Governor S Abdul Nazeer, and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

The conference aims to strengthen efforts for women’s empowerment by creating a platform for discussion among Parliament and state legislature committees. Speaker Birla will lead both the opening and closing sessions of the event.

According to Andhra Pradesh Legislature Secretary General Prasanna Kumar Suryadevara, the Committee on Empowerment of Women is a joint parliamentary body with 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. Typically, a Lok Sabha member heads this committee, and Rajahmundry MP D Purandeswari currently serves as its chairperson. Similar committees also exist in several state assemblies and councils.

In Andhra Pradesh, the committee includes three members from the Legislative Council and nine from the Assembly, led by G Charita Reddy. These committees often visit other states to learn from their experiences and share best practices.

Speaker Birla recently started an initiative to bring together committees from across India in one state to discuss key issues. The first such meeting took place in Maharashtra on the Estimates Committee (a key parliamentary committee in India), followed by a meeting in Bhubaneswar on SC/ST issues. The Andhra Pradesh event will be the third in the series, focusing on women’s empowerment.

The two-day conference will include discussions on two to three key themes, with four nominated members from each state participating. It will conclude on September 15 with a joint declaration summarizing the key takeaways and recommendations for the future.