Women Not To Be Burdened With Every Responsibility Just Because They Are Capable: Bhagwat

New Delhi : RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said women should not be burdened with every responsibility simply because they are capable, stressing that families should function as a team.

He asserted that families should share responsibilities while ensuring that women’s aspirations are not stifled.

Addressing a question-and-answer session after his lecture on Yuganukul Matrutva (contemporary motherhood) at an event organised by Vishwamangalya Sabha here on Friday, Bhagwat also called for greater participation by men in household responsibilities and said society must create an environment in which women receive equal respect and support.

“As I said earlier, all 18 responsibilities should not be placed on the woman alone. Today, work should be shared. If the entire family functions as a team, this is entirely possible,” he said.

Bhagwat said peace and satisfaction come when people are able to pursue what they truly want and families should decide their priorities collectively while maintaining harmony.

“The family must also ensure that, beneath all these responsibilities, a woman’s own aspirations and desires do not get suffocated or die. The family should ask itself what opportunities it can provide so that she is able to fulfil those aspirations,” he said.

He said awareness was necessary among both men and women and urged families to begin the change at home.

“You know better than anyone how to administer even a bitter medicine with love. Begin there. Gradually, the atmosphere changes,” Bhagwat said.

On the role of men, the RSS chief said creating awareness among them was equally important for women’s empowerment.

“I would also like to appeal to the men present here. Please give serious thought to this issue. Begin with yourselves. Create the right atmosphere in your own homes. Without this, change will not happen,” he said.

Bhagwat said households in earlier times functioned through consultation, with women managing family finances and key decisions, and asserted that such a spirit of partnership needs to be revived.

“We need to recreate that atmosphere. Today, excessive individualism — the attitude of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ — has grown stronger. We need to learn once again how to manage the ego. That can happen only through dialogue,” he said.

On women’s safety, Bhagwat said society as a whole bore responsibility for ensuring that women felt secure.

“Society itself should not become the aggressor. Ideally, there should be no need for such a fight at all,” he said, while asserting that women were capable of protecting themselves but expected society to provide a safe environment.

On the role of women in nation-building, Bhagwat said, “Women constitute half of our society. Unless that entire half contributes its full strength, the dream of a developed India cannot be realised.” (Agencies)