Saluting and celebrating womanhood, the IIT MANDI family celebrated the International Women’s day on 8th March 2011. The active participation of the faculty, students and staff members added value to the occasion. *Prof. Timothy A Gonsalves, *director IIT Mandi, honoured the gathering with his presence. The introductory speech threw light on the importance of the day and made the audience realize the gravity of the issue at hand. This was followed by a skit by the students depicting the social stigmas against women and their struggle for empowerment and equality.
Finally, the gathering was guided into a panel discussion headed by Dr. Priscilla T Gonsalves and moderated by Dr. Vispasa Soni while Dr. Nitu Kumari and Ms. Antra, a student representative presented their views. Various issues related to women were discussed and fruitful conclusions were drawn. The discussion centered around matters related to women's health, education, employment equality, discriminations, development and empowerment. The audience participated actively in the discussion. This celebration created an awareness for the need of an inclusive society, which is in tandem with IIT Mandi's larger goal.