Hyderabad, March 8 : Telangana M cipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao on Monday honoured, at a private hotel here, 80 Women who are working in the field of Journalism on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. Speaking on this occasion, Rao said that Telangana State is making great strides in all-round development empowering women in all the fields. He said special emphasis was given in the field of Medical and Education and as a result it is seen a steep drop in infant and maternal mortality rates in the state. The Minister said, the State occupies third rank in the country in providing medical facilities. This was revealed by the statistics released by the Central Government. To instill confidence among the women, the state government is implementing Shaadi Mubarak and Kalyana Lakshmi schemes which had reached to nearly 10 lakhs beneficiaries. This has also brought down child marriages in the state drastically, he said. Rao said the Telangana Government has also introduced a gender-sensitive curriculum in the schools. Apart from this, the government is also providing nutritious food to 17 lakhs pregnant women and children under Arogya Lakshmi scheme, the Minister added. Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy said that as a gift to the women in connection with International Women’s Day, the state government, in the Budget presented in Assembly yesterday has announced a first of its kind “Women versity” in the state and allocated Rs 100 Crore for establishing the versity. Women and Child Welfare Minister Satyavathi Rathod thanked the Chief Minister for making large-scale allocations for Women and Child Welfare in the budget. She recalled that after the introduction of SHE Teams in the state, women had the courage to return home safely in the middle of the night from their workplaces. The event was organized by the Information and Public Relations Department, Government of Telangana. VV CS1029