CHENNAI: Indian Bank celebrated International Women’s Day on Saturday by honouring 12 female achievers from diverse fields. Dr V Shanta, chairman of Cancer Institute (WIA) was the chief guest. She was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution towards cancer care and research in India.
“This recognition belongs to the institution I work for,” she said. “I am only a small component. When you are awarded, you must see if you are worthy of the recognition because it only adds to your responsibility. I will constantly strive to be better.” She spoke about Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy, a pioneer, who paved the way for others to work and move forward. But, gender bias, she said, still has a long way before its rooted out of the system. “The progress has been painfully slow and the earlier and faster we grow, the better it will be for us. You (women) should never take your career casually, and should be proud of the organisation you work for,” she said.
Other women who were recognised for their stellar work included Madurai Chinna Pillai (social work), P Suseela (music), V Nanammal (yoga), Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan (art/folk music), Mythili (mother of Dr Raghuram Rajan, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India), Suganthi (Special Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu), S Lakshmi (police service), Meenakshi Vijayakumar (fire service), Selena Deepthi (sports), Shobha Sudhakar (IPKF war martyr) and the Akkarai sisters (music).
The bank launched a savings bank product, ‘IB Surabhi - Only for Her’ with many features, tailormade with additional benefits on ATM withdrawals, complimentary insurance coverage, preferential pricing on jewel and vehicle loans, special offers on safe deposit lockers and so on.