Advisory Board Mem. Mumbai Branch, AIWC.
To all the delegates on the 82nd Annual Conference of AIWC.

I feel very proud and previledged to welcome all the guests and delegates to the 82nd Annual Conference of AIWC. It was in Mumbai, then known as Bombay that the seed of the organisation was sown and a small committee called the Social Reform and Education committee was formed under the leadership of Avantikabai Gokhale. The very next year A blanket institution was born and the All India Women`s Conference was formed by bringing together all organisations under one umbrella—and All India Women`s Conference was born.

The vision of National Leaders like Sarojini Naidu, and Kamaladevi Chattopadhya and a long line of able administrators like Smt. Laxmi Menon and Smt. Raghuramaiyya and a list of National Presidents who have helped in developing the conference leading to its progress.

With five hundred branches, the conference is an organisation working for spreading activities leading to the ultimate objective of “Empowerment of Women”, and you all members of the Standing Committee from the various branches are the people who have developed and made its name by mere dedication, devotion and sincerity. It is also a matter of pride for many of us today that Mumbai has led and is still the leader in spreading the message of women empowerment and is playing host to all the delegates to this 82nd Annual Conference.

While welcoming the National President Smt. Gomathi Nair and the Patrons Smt. Sarojini Vardappan, Smt. Shobhana Ranade, Kunti Paul, Dr. Manorama Bawa, and Dr. Aparna Basu, I also take the opportunity to congratulate Smt. Sheela Kakde , the President of the President of the Mumbai Branch and her team of workers to put up such a tremendous effort to hold a conference in an over crowded city like Mumbai. I am sure the delegates coming from far corners of India would appreciate these efforts and forgive small difficulties or discomforts that they had to face during their stay. Welcome once again and wish you all a fruitful and enjoyable stay in this commercial Capital of India,Mumbai.