PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Officers and employees of the Women Empowerment and Child Development (WECD) department have been honoured in the Women Welfare Excellence Service Award and ‘Meri Pehchan-2026’ programme held at Lok Bhavan in Dehradun on Friday to mark the occasion of International Women’s Day. The officials were honoured for successful work which includes adoption of a total of 198 children through Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) since 2016 (172 in India and 26 abroad), among others. The programme was attended by governor lieutenant general (Retd) Gurmit Singh and WECD minister Rekha Arya.
The beneficiaries of government schemes who have excelled in various fields were also felicitated in the programme. Twenty-five adolescents were also honoured at the event.
Addressing the programme, the governor said that women in Uttarakhand have made significant progress over the last decade and expressed confidence that they will play a vital role in the developed India of 2047.
The WECD minister Arya stated, “The Uttarakhand government is continuously taking concrete steps for the welfare of women and children. The State government has implemented the Vatsalya Scheme, providing five per cent reservation in government jobs for orphaned adolescents and 30 per cent reservation for women, which is a crucial initiative towards women’s empowerment.”
The officials said that the primary objective of the programme is to honour orphaned, destitute and abandoned women and children in the State under the “Meri Pehchan Programme.” This initiative aims to recognise those who have been rehabilitated by the department, ensuring they receive proper care and protection and can live respectable lives by reintegrating into mainstream society, they added.
