Global women’s conference at Osmania University

Osmania University inaugurated the three-day International Women’s Conference, bringing together scholars, leaders and students under the theme ‘Give to gain: Women’s power for sustainability’, on Tuesday.

Vice-Chancellor Kumar Molugaram inaugurated the event and said the conference is a clarion call to integrate women’s perspectives into global sustainability frameworks.

According to Captain Meera Siddhartha Dev, sustainability demands both discipline and empathy, and said ethical leadership was the foundation of long-term social progress.

Among the speakers, clinicians Manjula Anagani and P. Raghu Ram urged women to prioritise health, self-worth and cultural roots.

The plenary sessions on day one explored empowerment across personal, historical and legal dimensions. Actor-politician Gautami Tadimalla stressed the importance of intentional growth, resilience and boundary-setting, drawing from her personal and professional experiences. And historian Rekha Pandey examined women’s roles in Telangana’s anti-arrack, Razakar, and Naxalite movements, noting their contributions remain underrepresented in leadership structures due to entrenched patriarchy.

The day also featured a distinguished lecture by Justice Surepalli Nanda, who stressed the judiciary’s role in safeguarding equality, health and reproductive rights. She called for stronger legislative frameworks to ensure autonomy, education and gender parity, and urged society to dismantle persistent stereotypes.

Interactive sessions were on governance, innovation and public policy. The day concluded with a collective call for systemic change, emphasising that true empowerment lies in leadership, representation and sustained institutional impact.