y said that women should not become vulnerable by being dependent on their father, husband and son and sons-in-law and living in an illusory world. She said that more than 70 per cent of mental patients in the country were women. This was because once the illusion on which they had led their lives broke, reality for them was incomprehensible. Minister for Kannada and Culture Rani Sateesh who also spoke at the function said that with Rama Devi in Bangalore, the Raj Bhavan was a close destination to all women of Karnataka. She said that Karnataka should be proud to have a lady governor. Earlier, the president of the conference and Association, Sarojini Shintri said that women should become sensitive to the problems such as poverty, ecological degradation, war, famine, violence etc and strive towards peaceNo light yet at the end of tunnel By Radha Sharma AHMEDABAD: On the Occasion of International Women's Day, The Times of India posed the question 'Is the socio-economic status of women in Gujarat better than in most other states?' to prominent women of the state. Their responses, though varied, give an insight into the issues confronting women in the state. Most of them felt that though in comparison women in Gujarat may fare slightly better than, say, their counterparts in Bihar, such comparisons were hardly heartening. Ila Pathak, co-ordinator, Ahmedabad Women's Action Group: There is no indicator that suggests women in Gujarat are better off than their counterparts in other states. Yes, they might be socio-economically well off in comparison to women in Rajasthan or Bihar, but in comparison to Kerala, they are nowhere. Moreover, with twenty women mysteriously dying in the state every day and lakhs of females being killed ever before they are born, how can we say the fair sex enjoys a better position? I feel my twenty years of complete devotion to the cause has yielded nothing... there's still a long way to go. Ela Bhatt, founder, Self E...
