MP to institute Aruna Shanbaug award

Bhopal, May 19 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government on Tuesday announced an award of Rs.1 lakh in honour of nurse Aruna Shanbaug who died on Monday at a Mumbai hospital after having remained in a vegetative state for 42 long years.

The award would be given to any organisation working against exploitaton of women.

Participating in a women panchayat here on Tuesday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan paid tribute to Shanbaug and said the time has come to amend the law.

Stating that whatever happened with Shanbaug was painful, Chouhan described her as "the symbol of respect". He said the mentality of a patriarchal society needed to be changed. "How long will the women continue to suffer exploitation?"

He said the law needed to be re-evaluated and amended so that no woman had to face this fate again.