Anandiben Patel, governor of Uttar Pradesh, has stated on Thursday that women must work hard to be “expert mothers” before thinking of becoming IAS officers and teachers as professional success cannot come at the cost of neglecting their family.
Addressing the 41st convocation at a university in Kanpur, the 84-year-old Governor urged young women to continue their education and careers after marriage while contributing positively to both their families and wider society. While addressing students, parents, and teachers, Patel, who is also the Chancellor of state universities, highlighted the importance of family values, parenting skills, and character formation because real education is more than just educational attainment.
"Whether you become an IAS officer or a teacher, first become an expert mother. Everyone should know how to cook the food prepared at home," she said, adding that daughters should not discontinue their education after marriage and ought to use their knowledge and skills for nation-building.
Patel also urged parents to remain actively involved in their children's lives even after they enter schools and colleges. She warned that parents must know what their children are up to after entering educational institutions, as even a small lapse in supervision could adversely affect their future.
Expressing concern over drug abuse around university hostels, the Governor revealed that a monitoring team constituted by the Raj Bhavan had detected instances where narcotics were allegedly being supplied through food delivery containers. She noted that the network had since been dismantled through administrative intervention.
Linking the rise in domestic violence and crimes against women to declining moral values, Patel argued that education should not be measured solely by degrees and marks. She remarked that if degrees are increasing but society continues to witness such crimes, it reflects the true state of education, adding that moral values are just as important as academic knowledge.
The university conferred degrees on 107,713 students during the convocation, with women securing nearly 82 per cent of the medals. Priya Yadav, a BSc Agriculture graduate, received the Chancellor's Gold Medal alongside four other medals for topping the university.
Patel's remarks come amidst a series of recent speeches focusing on women, family, and social values. On 8 July, at a mother-daughter conference held after the convocation of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University in Lucknow, she called for greater awareness of women's health, nutrition, anaemia, menstruation, menopause, pregnancy, and maternal health.
She directed universities to conduct regular health check-ups for female students, install BMI testing facilities, promote scientific awareness regarding women's health, and introduce courses on 'garbh sanskar' covering maternal nutrition, foetal development, and healthy pregnancies. She also called for campaigns against child marriage and gender discrimination.
A day earlier, at the 24th convocation of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University in Lucknow, Patel advised students to become financially self-reliant before marriage, suggesting that if they like someone, they should first establish financial independence before tying the knot. Clarifying that she was not opposed to love marriages, she urged young people to make informed decisions and stressed the need to improve teaching standards in government engineering colleges.
At the Kanpur convocation, Patel reiterated her message of balancing education with family responsibility, social values, and personal development, on the same day the university rolled out digital certification for its graduates.
Also read: UP Governor directs colleges to set up anti-conversion cells
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