A towering 13-floor Hostel Block, named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and a 5-floor Administrative Block, named in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi, was recently inaugurated at the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). The managing director and chief executive officer of Indian Bank, Padmaja Chunduru, dedicated the buildings as part of celebrations of International Women’s Day in the presence of the founder and chancellor of VIT, Dr G Viswanathan. The vice president, Delivery and Support (ERP), Ramco Systems, and a former student of VIT, G Muthazhagi, was the guest of honour on the occasion. The Hostel Block has been built at a cost of Rs 105 crore, while the Academic Block has been built at a cost of Rs 51 crore.

In his address, Dr Viswanathan said that women formed 49 per cent of India’s population and were the backbone of saving money in the country. He spoke about increasing the age limit for children for free education from 14 to the age of 18 and advocated that the government should increase its investment on higher education. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about accessibility, affordability and equity in higher education. To implement this, the government should come forward to spend more money in the education sector.”

Chunduru commented that India possessed a better culture of encouraging women without judging them based on their looks and complexion. She pointed out that 33 per cent of the employees of the Indian Bank were women. “Today there are so many options for jobs, education, marriages, to choose how you work and where to work.  Hence, options are good but making a decision is equally very difficult. That decision making is what you need to empower yourself for,” she said.

Addressing the female students at VIT, Muthazhagi added  that work life balance was the key. “Stay focused, plan and execute with priorities, be it at home or at work.”