India, Netherlands discuss cooperation in women development

India and Netherlands today discussed possibilities of cooperation in the sphere of women and child development as well as increased employment opportunities for women in the traditional sectors.
As per an official statement, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of Netherlands, Lilianne Ploumen met Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi today and explored several possible avenues for cooperation between the two countries.
Elaborating her ideas during the meeting, Lilianne said that women can be supported to play greater non-traditional economic roles in traditional sectors like agriculture and textiles, for example, in the agro-business sector.
She also said that it is possible to increase opportunities for women by looking at the primary processes in these sectors and identifying areas where they can play a larger role.

Gandhi said her Ministry could join hands and conduct a study for identifying non-traditional roles for women within the traditional sectors in India.
She also suggested that Dutch companies in India can contribute towards women and children issues as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR).
Referring to steps being taken by the government to improve safety and security of women, Gandhi said that the Government is improving infrastructure through measures like creating one-stop crisis centres for women, reservations to women in Police Force among others.