Report of NWMI’s 11th National Meet, Ahmedabad, 2014
Ahmedabad, September 26-28, 2014
NWMI’s 11th Annual Meet was held in Ahmedabad from September 26 to 28, 2014. More than a hundred mediawomen, from different parts of the country, participated in the meeting held at the historic Gujarat Vidyapith.
At the inaugural function on September 26, Elaben Bhatt, founder of SEWA, spoke on ‘Creative Alternatives for Development: Women Heralding Change.’ Professor Narayan Desai, chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapeeth, gave a historical perspective on Gujarat. Mr Achyut Yagnik, founder, SETU Centre for Social Knowledge and Action, spoke on future perspectives of Gujarat and development.
At the inauguration, from left: Malti Mehta and Ammu Joseph from NWMI, Prof Narayan Desai, Elaben Bhatt and Mr Achyut Yagnik.
On September 27, the Gujarat Development Model was discussed by Dr Leela Visaria, former director, Gujarat Institute of Development Research; Prof Hemant Kumar Shah, professor of economics, Gujarat University; Mr Sunil Parekh, founding curator at World Economic Forum. The session was chaired by Dr Sudarshan Iyengar, vice chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith.
Visit to SEWA Interaction with Elaben Bhatt 2014
Elaben Bhatt and others from SEWA chat with NWMI members during their visit to SEWA.
The afternoon was spent on a visit to to SEWA, Manipur, Sanand Taluka, and an interaction with SEWA Video, SEWA Community Radio and Anasooya Magazine teams.
Launch of Gita Aravamudan’s book, Baby Makers.
In the evening, a panel discussion on surrogacy: the implications for women and society was followed by the launch of writer and NWMI member Gita Aravamudan’s book, Baby Makers, by renowned writer, artist and art critic Ms Esther David.
The final panel discussion on September 28 was on the role of the media during and after communal violence. Ms Jyotsana Yagnik, former principal city civil and sessions judge; Dr Svati Joshi, former lecturer of English and civil rights activist; Mr Vinay Mahajan and Ms Charul Bharwada, Loknaad, and Ms Meera Rafi Malek, Kadam Centre for Development.
Justice Jyotsna Yagnik.
Following extensive reporting and discussion in the internal sessions, on the working conditions of freelance journalists, NWMI’s statement released at the end of the Ahmedabad meet, called on media establishments to treat freelance journalists, of whom women constitute a large proportion, professionally and fairly.
The meeting was organised by the Media Women’s Forum, Gujarat, a chapter of the NWMI.
