BANDIPORA, NOVEMBER 05, 2020: The two-day Conclave on career counselling for Girls started in Bandipora on Wednesday. Director Information and Public Relations Dr Syed Sehrish Asgar was the chief guest on the occasion while Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Dr Owais Ahmad was also present on the occasion.

In her Keynote address, Dr. Syed Sehrish Asgar shared her views with the audience and urged the students to work hard and fix a goal for achieving success. She said proper planning and right mindset is key to Success.

She told the girls to make up their mind in which field they want to go and then strive hard to achieve that goal. She said in her presentation that women have changing roles in the society, “only confident and independent women can meet these challenges. Being focused and identifying your strengths can open the doors of success,” she said adding that it is very important that one realises in which field she has an aptitude. It is not just merit and academic background that decide your career option but your own desire should decide it.

Dr Asgar discussed the managerial and administrative abilities of women and how they can overcome the challenges of life including career choice, finances, legal, societal biases by focusing on their innate potential. She said self confidence is the key to create their own form of leadership in whatever field a girl chooses.

Earlier Deputy Commissioner Bandipora welcomed the guests and gave a brief about the 2-days conclave. He said the conclave is aimed at sharing the success stories of successful women in different fields that will inspire the younger generation to strive hard to achieve their goals.

He said that the district administration is providing every possible support to the girls in different fields including education, career counselling, skill development and handholding for making girls self-reliant and empowered. He impressed upon the students to take advantage of the counselling sessions and take right decisions at the right time to be able to compete at the international market.

Later a panel discussion was also held regarding the civil services as the career option that was attended by Dr Sehrish Asgar, Hameeda Akhtar (KAS) and Kamila Mushtaq (KAS topper 2020). The students also interacted with the panel members and asked several questions with regard to the preparations for civil services exams.

Senior Scientist CSIR, Nasir Rasheed also spoke on the occasion and briefed the audience about the working and functioning of CSIR and the career options in Science, research and renewable energy.

Dr Fowzia Afaq and Baseera Rafiqui spoke about “Journalism as a career” while Dr Asima Zehra and Dr Mehreen Bashir discussed, “Science as a career” .

During the first day of the conclave experts with-multi disciplinary backgrounds delivered lectures on career opportunities in various subjects and fields including Science, Journalism, civil services, entrepreneurial development, and also talked about planning part of career and self exploration.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Bandipora Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Secretary District Legal Services Authority Bandipora Iqbal Ahmad Akhoon, Joint Director Planning Imtiyaz Ahmad were also present on the occasion.