Vice President C P Radhakrishnan on Sunday said a time might come when men would have to fight for equal space as women continue to make strides in education and other fields.

Addressing a gathering of ‘Lakhpati Didis’ at the Hapania International Fair Ground near here, Radhakrishnan said he had recently attended convocation ceremonies in several states where female students were outperforming their male counterparts.

He said during his visits to Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Mizoram and Tripura, he observed that women were securing more gold medals than men in universities.

According to him, women now constitute around 60 per cent of graduates in the country. He said that if the trend continues, a situation could arise where gender inequality may reverse and men might have to struggle for equal opportunities.

The Vice President encouraged members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) associated with the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ initiative to aim for greater economic progress.

He said participants in the programme should aspire to become “Crorepati Didis” and expressed hope that he would return to interact with them at a future event under that title.

Radhakrishnan also referred to several central government schemes aimed at improving the socio-economic condition of women, including the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Jal Jeevan Mission and Ujjwala Yojana.

He said initiatives such as ‘Lakhpati Didi’, ‘Drone Didi’ and the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam were intended to expand women’s participation in national development.

Referring to the SHG movement, the Vice President said more than 10 crore women across the country are associated with self-help groups and around two crore have attained the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ status.

He said Tripura has set a target of identifying 1.35 lakh SHG members as ‘Lakhpati Didis’ and noted that around five lakh women in the state are connected with SHGs.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, Governor Indrasena Reddy Nallu, Chief Secretary J K Sinha and other officials were present at the event, officials said.