Union Minister Maneka Gandhi thinks that early curfew for girls who live in hostels could be necessary for their own safety.
In an interview with NDTV, Gandhi, an advocate of gender equality and women empowerment, said, "At 16 or 17 you are hormonally very challenged. So to protect you from your own hormonal outbursts, perhaps a lakshman rekha is drawn. It really is for your own safety."
On being asked whether the matter cannot be solved by tightening the security at the colleges, she said, "No, not by two Bihari gentlemen at gate with dandas (sticks). It has to be solved literally by giving time limits for everything.... Give them (boys) two nights to go to the library and two nights for girls -- if you want to go to library, that is."
The minister further went on to say that boys shouldn't be treated any differently and the same deadlines should exist for both boys and girls. "Why should the boys be allowed to wander about in the campus after 6'o-clock? Let them also stay in and do their work," she said while speaking to NDTV at an interview about International Women's Day.
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