GUWAHATI, April 30 � A meeting of the Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress (APMC) was held on Thursday at Rajiv Bhawan here under the presidentship of Mridula Saharia, president of APMC.
It was also attended by the president of the All India Mahila Congress (AIMC), Shobha Oza, general secretary AIMC in-charge of Assam, Jarjum Ete, and secretary, AIMC Shehnaz Haque, amongst others.
Bismita Gogoi, Minister, Govt of Assam, Hema Prava Saikia, former State minister, and Pratima Devi Sarma, chairperson, Social Welfare Board, were also present in the meeting.
Addressing the meet, Saharia expressed sorrow over the Nepal earthquake tragedy and extended deepest condolences to all who lost their lives in the calamity. She also extended her sympathies to the bereaved families of Guwahati who lost their near and dear ones in the tragedy.
Everyone present in the meeting stood up in silence for a minute and prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls. Saharia then spoke at length on the activities taken up by the APMC during her tenure. She urged all the Congress workers present in the meeting to gear up for the 2016 State Assembly elections.
Bismita Gogoi, in her speech, said that the Congress members will have to work really hard for the Assembly election so as to give a tough fight to the BJP. She said that in order to win the mandate of the people in the next election, the Congress will have to reflect on its election strategy and give importance to social media and information technology. �It is important to highlight all the work done by the government for the people through social media. Only then the party will be able to reach out to the masses. Door-to-door campaign is also a must to regain the party�s position in the year 2016,� she stressed.
On the other hand, Jarjum Ete spoke about the strength and importance of information technology in politics. She said that in today�s world, when every Indian has a mobile phone and many of them are using smartphones, being technologically active has become the need of the hour. �The party workers must reach out to the people through the internet, using Facebook, emails, WhatsApp, etc. This is the only medium to attract youngsters who are interested in politics,� she mentioned, urging all the Mahila workers to carry membership drives in their respective areas by including as many women members as possible.
Shobha Oza, addressing the Mahila workers, said that women empowerment is the main objective of the Congress party. �Congress is the only party which undertakes schemes for women and children. But after the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, the budget of many schemes granted for women and children have been cut down. Many schemes have been withdrawn,� rued Oza, and slammed the promulgation of the Land Acquisition (Ordinance) 2015 by the BJP Government. Oza said that the Congress party demands the repeal of the same and adoption and implementation of the 2013 Land Act.
The meet resolved to fight for the legislation of the one-third reservation of seats in Parliament and State Assemblies. The meet also condemned the Budget 2015 for the drastic reduction of allocations in the social sector, endangering security of the downtrodden.
