Should govt supply condoms? : woman IAS officer to girl student

Patna: An woman IAS officer in Bihar replied to a teenage girl's query in a women empowerment workshop that the girls might ask the government to provide contraception methods and condoms, NDTV reports.

At the workshop for girls, one student asked if the government could provide them with sanitary pads at Rs 20-30. While the whole country is apparently talking about women's empowerment and working towards it, aligning with the Union government's schemes for the sections, as it claims, an officer of a prestigious position, having noble responsibilities, issues such statements at an upcoming generation.

IAS officer Harjot Kaur Bhamra, managing director of Women and Child Development Corporation in the state, made snarky remarks at the workshop on 'Sashakt Beti, Samriddh Bihar' (Empowered Daughters, Prosperous Bihar) with the tagline, 'Towards enhancing the value of girls'. The programme was conducted in partnership with Unicef and other organisations. The officer's audience was mostly 9th and 10th class students.

"Tomorrow, you'll say the government can give jeans too. And why not some beautiful shoes after that? "You will eventually expect the government to give you family planning methods, condoms, too," NDTV quoted the officer.

The student replied to her comment that people's votes make the government, the officer growled, "This is heights of stupidity. Don't vote, then. Become Pakistan. Do you vote for money and services?" NDTV quoted.

The officer later preached that why should the girls seek everything from the government and that such a way of thinking is wrong. "Do it yourself," she said.

The officer wasn't done. When another student said that many of the girl's toilets in the school were broken and boys often enter, she replied that whether they have separate toilets at home. "If you keep asking for a lot of things at different places, how will it work?" she was quoted.

When she made the "Pakistan" statement, the student said that she was Indian and why she should go to Pakistan.

Bhamra went on preaching that girls should change their thought processes and must decide where they wish to see themselves in the future.

She said, "Girls, you have to change your thinking. You have to decide where you want to see yourself in the future. You will have to make this decision yourself. The government cannot do this for you. Do you want to sit where you are or on the side I am sitting on?"