International women’s day 2019
The International women’s day was celebrated on 8th March 2019. The management in co ordination with the women empowerment cell of Saveetha dental college organized numerous activities. As is the norm, women achievers in their respective spheres of life were identified and hand picked for recognition and awards were given away on this day. The event began with a welcome dance by our students and a welcome address by our Dean Dr. Sheeja Varghese. The chief guest of the event was Dr. Kamala Selvaraj, MD, DGO, PhD (Associate director, GG hospital, Chennai -34). She graced the occasion and gave away the awards. She also addressed the gathering and spoke about the health issues women face and advised the young generation about it.
The awards were given to the women achievers by the chief guest, our dean and Prof. Dr. Shyamalaa Chandrasekharan (Dept. of Orthodontics). The first award of the day was the young achiever’s awards and was given to S.R.Tejaswini, studying in 12th Standard in N.S.N. Matriculation School,
Chitlapakkam. She was diagnosed with a disability called Osteotomy of Radius
and Ulna only at the age of 6 when she found it difficult to use her right hand for
even doing basic activities like eating and writing. She is now a national level para awimmer who has represented India at the Asian Youth para games in 2017 in Dubai where she won silver medal in100 M Breast stroke with 834 points. She charmed the gathering with her wise words and innocent demeanor and urged the audience to dream. She also stressed that it is not what we have but what we do with what we have that matters!
The next award was the Inspiring woman icon award which was given to Ms Kavitha Ramu. An IAS officer by day and a senior Bharatnatyam exponent in the evenings, Ms.Kavitha has been performing as a solo artiste for more than 20 years now, with over 650 stage performances to her credit. Having seen her father serve the country as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Kavitha had always wanted to follow his footsteps. She was initially fascinated by the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) but, over time, decided on IAS as staying in India meant she could pursue her passion for dance.
Some positions she has earlier held include, Joint Commissioner for Relief and Rehabilitation, District Revenue Officer, Chennai dt, and General Manager for the Tamil Nadu State Tourism Development Corporation. Presently she is the Director, dept of Museums. Ms Kavitha Ramu addressed the gathering and spoke about how a little bit of planning and effort form our side can help us pursue our profession and passion simultaneously with great joy.
The next award was the healthcare excellence award and was presented to Dr.Vijayasree Mahadevan for her yeoman service for the poor and needy in the field of cancer care. The founder and managing trustee of sri matha cancer care. To help the people who are in need of the dialysis treatment, Dr. Vijayasree have installed 4 Dialysis unit in their City. In addition to this she wants to create awareness about “Palliative Care” amongst commoners hence she wrote a book called “INI ORU VALIYILLA PAYANAM” (Henceforth a painless Journey) and that book was released by the Governor of Tamil Nadu DR.K.ROSAIAH” on the occasion of world Palliative Care Day. She addressed the gathering and inspired the audience with her speech.
The social activist award was presented to Dr. A.D. Revathy, who commissioned as a member for Tamil Nadu commission for protection of child rights by the governor of Tamil Nadu as an act of implementation of the Central act, She was assigned as a Convener to lead the Tamil Nadu State Child Policy Committee, After Several Steps of Meetings from the level of Secretaries to the District officials and experts consultation meetings, the draft, Tamil Nadu State Policy for Children 2017 was handed over to the Government of Tamil Nadu. In Feb 2017, a national movement, called, CHILD RIGHT INDIA, was successfully started to uphold the rights of children in the nation. She also started an organization, in the name of, TEACHERS OF PHILOSOPHY, on 15th August 2017 for the purpose of upgrading Philosophical studies and investigation among Philosophy academics in Tamil Nadu. She addressed the gathering about the urgent need for a policy for child and women rights and how we need to fight for it collectively as a population.
The women entrepreneur award was presented to Ms Aarthi Anantha Padmanaban, the Founder and Chief Visionary of Youvolve. Youvolve is a coaching, counselling and training company specialising in Leadership training, workplace Communication and etiquette, Assertive skills, Key representational styles and its impact on quality of work. The initiative for required unique Training methodology amalgamating Coaching and Mentoring , grew out of the desire to contribute positively to the realization of the vision and target set by a company or its units. She spoke about the importance of women being self-full and happy with themselves before embarking on any of their other responsibilities.
The last award but by no means the least, for excellence in teaching was presented to Dr. Lalitha Balakrishnan. She is the Principal of M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai, is an Educational Administrator with over 30 years of experience. She is passionate about research and has published in several National and International journals. She has also authored four books in Management. Dr. Lalitha Balakrishnan has been invited by the US Department of State to visit the USA under the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). She visited Universities of Stanford, Harvard, Yale in the USA and universities in Sydney, U. K and Vancouver. She has held several leadership positions in her career and has groomed leaders through conduct of Management Development Programs for managers in various MNC’s.To her credit she has won The Best Teacher Award, Bharathi Kanda Pudhumai Penn Award , Eminent Woman Achiever Award , Leadership Excellence award and For the sake of Honor Award. She spoke about the joys of being in her profession and how we should think out of the box and achieve our goals.
The ceremony ended with the vote of thanks by Dr.Anitha Roy from the Pharmacology department. This was followed by another program organized by Dr.Uma Maheswari (Dept of Oral Medicine) and Dr.Brinda (Dept of General Pathology) on general and oral health awareness for Women employees of the institution. Dr. Sri Sakthi and her team from the department of Public health dentistry organized a screening and oral health awareness camp Mary Clubwala Jadhav Higher Secondary school, Egmore, Chennai wherein 250 children and 15 staff were benefitted.
As a special gesture the management also handed out gifts to all women staff of the institution. ☺
