MUMBAI - Women should be included at all levels to make the development process sustainable and help build the nation, President Pratibha Patil said here Saturday.

Patil was speaking as the chief guest at the 58th annual convocation of the Shrimati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women’s University here.

Pointing out that women do not have same opportunities as men, she said that in order to achieve the objective of growth with equity, the mainstreaming of women into the national development process was essential.

‘Educated women can help other women become self-reliant, self-confident, they could counsel them, share experiences about career choices, employment and business opportunities and in matters like nutrition and childcare,’ Patil urged.

Stressing the need to usher in an ‘information society’, she highlighted the need to provide scholarships and easy loans to advance women’s education in the country, especially for those pursuing higher education.

‘One cannot think of a well-informed society until its women are educated. The goal should be to expand the reach of education and ensure that opportunities to learn are within the reach of all girls and women,’ Patil said,

Lauding the efforts of the SNDT Women’s University - the first in the country dedicated to the cause of women’s education - Patil said that she would encourage work in areas like gender sensitisation, legal and family counselling services, health camps for women to identify and tackle diseases specific to women and guidance on nutrition.

On the occasion, chancellor of the SNDT Women’s University and Maharashtra Governor S.C. Jamir conferred an honorary D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) on Patil.

The roots of the country’s first women’s university were laid by Maharishi Karve in the form of a small school for widows and destitute women which grew steadily. After reading a book on the Japanese Women’s University in Tokyo, Maharishi Karve launched the Indian Women’s University in Pune in 1916 with just five students.

Impressed by his commitment, Mumbai industrialist Sir Vithaldas Thackersey gifted Rs.1.5 million to the university in memory of his mother.

Twenty years later, the university shifted to Mumbai and in 1951 and became a full-fledged university.