‘Not Facilities, But Mindset Defines A Smart City’

Bhubaneswar: A smart city is not about wide roads, beautiful landscapes, efficient drainage system and better traffic, it is the mindset of the people living there, which defines its character.  This is what speakers had to say on Saturday at a workshop organised to create awareness against ‘Gender Discrimination’ at the SOA (Deemed to be University).

The workshop was jointly organised by the NSS bureau of SOA, Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Speaking on the occasion, former member of the State Women’s Commission, Namrata Chaddha said, “Safety of women and attention given to the handicapped and underprivileged decides how smart a city is. It is not about branded clothes, the shade of a girl’s lipstick or the brand of a boy’s shaving cream.”

“What is needed is a change in the mindset of the people who need to view things in a proper perspective. Girls face discrimination everywhere, both within the family and outside,” Chaddha said adding, “We still find matrimonial ads looking for beautiful, fair, tall, educated and homely girls as a match for boys.”

During interviews, girls are asked, “Can you work at night?” “It reeks of discrimination,” she said.

“Why is it that the tradition of people from a boy’s family visiting the girl’s home during matrimonial negotiation still continues? Why doesn’t it happen the other way round?” she questioned further.

Eminent social activist, Licon Subudhi, who has been campaigning against child marriage, said the problem stems from the fact that people refuse to respect a woman. If we refuse to take responsibility for a nation’s development and are not worried about things happening around us, such a mindset will continue,” she added.

Talking about smart cities, Subudhi said, “It is the responsibility of the people of the city to protest against discrimination and prevent atrocities against women and children. “We need to build that kind of a system using technology to ensure the safety of women and children.”

Addressing the meeting, social worker, Pritichhanda Dhal, hit out against the ‘double standard’ in peoples’ mentality which allowed violence and discrimination against women. “We may have advanced technologically but our mindset has been on a downhill trip,” she said.

Dean of School of Hotel Management (SHM), SOA’s faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management Prof. Sithikantha Mishra presided over the programme, which was also addressed by SOA’s NSS Coordinator, Dr Nachiketa Sharma, Dean (Students’ Welfare) Dr Jyoti Ranjan Das and Nodal Officer, NSS in SOA Dr Shantilata Champati.

Students of SHM and Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), SOA’s faculty of engineering, also staged three street plays to highlight the discrimination against women.