The International Women’s Day celebration on March 8, 2025 at the General Post Office (GPO), Kolkata, organized by the Science Association of Bengal (SAB), was a resounding success. The event brought together eminent personalities, scholars, and young minds to honor women’s achievements and discuss pressing issues related to gender discrimination. The event commenced with a warm welcome by Dr. Shubhobrata Roy Choudhury, Sacretary, SAB, who set the tone for the day by addressing the pervasive issue of gender discrimination across various fields. He emphasized the importance of leveraging technology and literature to combat these challenges.
Dr. N. C. Ghatak spoke extensively on gender discrimination in medical and social literature. He highlighted the role of advanced tools like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and OpenRefine in addressing these issues. RAG is an advanced NLP approach that combines retrieval mechanisms with generative models to provide accurate and relevant insights. OpenRefine is a powerful tool for data cleaning and transformation, ensuring datasets are free from inconsistencies and biases. Dr. Ghatak stressed the importance of using these tools to analyze and mitigate gender biases in literature and data. A significant moment of the event was the release of the poetry book, ‘Asha Jawa Pother Dhare’ in Bengali by Prof Rina Roy of MAKAUT University. The book was unveiled by SAB Secretary Dr. Shubhabrata Roychoudhury and other dignitaries. The release of Prof Rina Roy’s poetry book highlighted the role of literature in empowering women and fostering social change.
Several distinguished women were honored for their contributions to society. Mementos were presented to them as a token of appreciation for their relentless efforts in various fields. Two young girls, Shuvamita (14 years) and Ruhaniyat (11 years), were gifted books to inspire them to pursue knowledge and break barriers. By honoring young girls like Shuvamita and Ruhaniyat, the event emphasized the importance of nurturing the next generation of leaders.
This gesture symbolized the event’s focus on empowering the next generation. The speakers at the event included Dr Kasturi Ghatak, MS. Sanghamitra Sarkar,
Prof Samita Swar, Ms. Chandra Rakshit, Mr. Samar Bej, Dr. Ratna Dutta and Mr. Jayanta Kumar Dutta. Each speaker echoed the theme of overcoming gender discrimination and celebrated the achievements of women in various domains.
Dr. N. C. Ghatak delivered the vote of thanks, expressing gratitude to all participants, organizers, and the GPO authorities for their support. Special thanks were extended to Ms. Swapna Karmakar Bose for facilitating the use of the GPO premises. The event concluded with a networking session over coffee and snacks, allowing attendees to engage in meaningful conversations and share ideas. The event shed light on the persistent issue of gender discrimination in medical and social literature. Tools like RAG and OpenRefine were proposed as solutions to address these biases effectively.
The successful organization of the event was a testament to the collaborative efforts of SAB, GPO authorities, and all participants. The International Women’s Day celebration at GPO, Kolkata, was a remarkable event that not only honored women’s achievements but also provided a platform to discuss and address gender discrimination. The integration of technology, literature, and community engagement made it a truly impactful.
Photo credit: Saikat Kumar Basu
