In an exclusive interview to The Indian Express, the 27-year-old Minister, who was elected from Noorabad constituency in south Kashmir, was all praise for Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah for ``being supportive and gender-neutral''.

``However, I feel suffocated. Whenever menfolk come to my office, the others sitting outside raise eyebrows and even talk nonsense that hurts,'' she said. ``This society has become so callous towards women that they cannot tolerate their success, especially if they are working.''

Itoo said male chauvinism was making the Civil Secretariat a living hell for women employees. ``It is a tragedy that our society is not opening up. When one learns about the cheap comments passed by peopleon some girls working in the Secretariat, one feels humiliated,'' she said.

Itoo has herself experienced the gender bias. ``After being elected to the Assembly, I appeared in interviews and group discussions on television along with my party colleagues. Several of my neighbours, who belong to a particular political ideology, would comment about my not covering my head or often being in the company of menfolk. They did not even hesitate to speak about this to my family members.''

Itoo's entry into politics has roots in a personal tragedy. Her father, a National Conference leader and former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Wali Mohammad Itoo, was killed by militants in Jammu. A bright student who nursed ambitions of becoming a doctor, Itoo was studying at the Bhopal Medical College, Madhya Pradesh. ``I had to rush back home, little knowing I would never be able to return to complete my medical degree,'' she said.

She admits the only reason why she had to jump into politics, was that her parents had nomale issue. ``I was brought up like a son in a traditional Kashmiri family and despite my non-inclination towards politics, my father always encouraged me to join it. However, after the killing of my father, the party supporters in Noorabad pleaded with me to join politics,'' she said. ``So I had to say goodbye to MBBS.''

Itoo's dream is to involve more women in the ruling National Conference. ``There is no woman block president in my constituency but there are several halka presidents.'' She particularly stresses upon involvement of women in politics at the grassroot level.

She is against the concept of allocating Rs 25 lakh to each legislator for developmental schemes. ``With this much of money, it is difficult to complete even a single project, keeping in view the ground realities, especially developmental aspects in rural Kashmir. So, it creates problems rather than solve any,'' she said.

``Nihama Bridge, the only link between the 136-odd villages of my constituency and the rest of the State, waswashed away by floods and needs at least Rs 6 crore for reconstruction,'' she added.