CORPORATE CITIZEN CLAPS FOR THE SHEER BRILLIANCE DISPLAYED BY THE FOUR WOMEN CROREPATIS (MILLIONAIRES) IN THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED GAME SHOW - ‘KAUN BANEGA CROREPATI’ (KBC)

Season 12. The feat has been accomplished by many since July 3, 2000, when KBC was aired for the first time on Indian television. But, KBC 12 has catapulted the audiences to a new high as they witnessed four women make the INR 1 crore mark for three consecutive weeks in 2020 and the beginning of 2021. Brilliance was when KBC got its fourth woman crorepati with Dr Neha Shah (January 7, 2021) and newest member who joined accomplished predecessors Nazia Nasim (first crorepati on November 11, 2020), followed in quick succession by Mohita Sharma, on November 17, followed by Anupa Das, the third winner who made her mark on November 25, 2020. Grit, determination, humour and chutzpah is all it took to get these women to win their booty, which also reflected their greater persona going beyond their respective game feats. Delhi-based Nazia Nasim, a communications manager with Royal Enfield played an above-par game and received a standing ovation. Little did she know that she was only setting the trend for the second woman millionaire in line Mohita Sharma from Kangra (Himachal Pradesh). Currently posted as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in the Jammu Kashmir Cadre in Bari Brahmana (Samba), Mohita’s impressive performance set the ball rolling for the third woman crorepati in 2020 - Anupa Das, a government school teacher who has been trying for the past 30 years to make a mark at the KBC show. Mumbai-based Dr Neha Shah too, had been trying to get on board the popular game show for the past 2 decades. While her game feats won accolades, her professional front on how she treated Covid-19 patients during and after the lockdown was more than commendable. Previous noteworthy women ‘crorepatis’ are Firoz Fatima, the first-ever lady winner in KBC Season 7 who showed grit as the prize money was to pay off a huge loan her family had taken for her father’s medical expenses; Anamika Mazumdar, a social worker from Jamshedpur, Binita Jain, a single mother and a winner of KBC Season 10 and mid-day meal cook Babita Tade, from Maharashtra’s Amravati District who clinched the title in Season 11. Well-deserved and Kudos!

CORPORATE CITIZEN SLAPS THE CONTINUING LACK OF OPPORTUNITIES BEING FACED BY INDIAN WOMEN WHICH HAS BECOME MORE PRONOUNCED IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE PANDEMIC

In fact, the recent National Education Policy of India (NEP) 2020 has addressed several issues, which are central to women and girls and their inability to access education systems. Safe means of mobility, free from harassment, has been recognised as a critical dictum in helping women and girls in accessing education. But Covid-19, has impacted the digital education model, with more women than men reporting a lack of internet access and online classes. According to GSMA’s ‘The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019’, Indian women are 56% less likely to use mobile internet than men and that a mere 35% of active users in the country are women. It is ironical that while online learning has brought forth newer opportunities in the form of digital platforms, it has also exposed the inequality that has created internet ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’! The internet has definitely not become the organic equaliser that it might have been expected to become. Even in the pre-pandemic situation, despite the increase in literacy levels and significant investment in education and training in India, women have been most disadvantaged when it comes to access to education, skills development and employment. According to the 2011 Census, the female literacy rate was 16.6% lower than male literacy rate at only 65.5% and as per the report, Women Men in India 2017 report, by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, discontinuance for girls, aged 16 - 24 years in 2014 was, as high as 57.4% (urban) and 36.7% (rural). The NEP has factored exclusions that explains why women get caught in the cycle of poverty and discrimination. Policymakers, do argue that dropping out of school has a long-term impact on the lives of women, leading to early marriages, early pregnancies, and a lifetime of poverty. But, who will walk the talk!