SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said that the cabinet has passed a historic decision by approving the ‘Policy on Reservation of seats for Women in Village Employment Councils (VECs)’.
The state government has brought the policy of reserving at least 50 per cent seats for women in the grassroots village level community institutions.
Sangma said the policy has been introduced with an aim to address different setbacks related to gender equality and developmental issues at the grassroots level and its main intention is to involve active participation of women.
“Women leadership implies creation of agency for women that will enable them to take decisions and participate in the developmental process as well as decisions that impact their lives,” the chief minister said.
Conrad added that the policy aims to create an enabling environment for women to exercise leadership and give them equal opportunities in governance.
“Most of the time, focus is laid on improving the well-being of women but not on creation of an agency for women to exercise her freedom and leadership, and through this policy, we want to ensure empowerment of women,” Conrad stated.
With this policy, the government aims to revamp its performance in achieving sustainable development goals by 2030.