Union minister of ministry of WCD Smriti Irani on Monday said India is now setting standards on the issue of gender justice, and women-led development has become the “governance mantra” of the PM Modi-led government.
Union minister of ministry of women and child development (WCD) Smriti Irani on Monday said India is now setting standards on the issue of gender justice, and women-led development has become the “governance mantra” of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
While virtually addressing the India Global Forum (IGF) Annual Summit 2023 (Setting the Pace), in the national Capital, Irani said, “India is now setting new standards on the issue of gender justice. In the G-20 presidency of India, the Prime Minister of India has now brought issues of women to the main table for discussion.”
“Today, we women in India proudly say that issues related to our gender are not relegated to the sidelines of governance. Women led development is now the governance mantra of the Narendra Modi government,” she said.
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Highlighting the achievements of the Modi government in transitioning from women’s development to “women-led development”, Irani said that the “Swachh Bharat” initiative contributes to ensuring women in our country have access to clean sanitation facilities.
“Under this ambitious plan of the honorable Prime Minister, India saw the building of 110 million individual household toilets after seven decades of our independence,” she said.
The WCD minister further said that ensuring that women are the center of his decision making, Prime Minister Modi also exhorted all communities to ensure women have access to financial services.
“Over 230 million Indian women, for the first time, had bank accounts. When the Prime Minister announced the mudra Yojana which was not gendered, he did implore that every Indian citizen who has a dream to start an enterprise should have access to collateral free loans from our banks. And lo and behold, 70% of the beneficiaries of the 320 million loans given under mudra yojana were female beneficiaries,” she said.
Irani said that by including the “gender inclusion fund” in the national education policy 2020, the Prime Minister not only thought of ensuring gender justice in the present, but also preparing the nation for gender justice in the future.
Highlighting that six million women, frontline workers, doctors, nurses across India, were at the helm of affairs when the pandemic struck globally, Irani said, “Remember this that we are not only a gender that has faced many complexities and challenges, but we are also at the forefront of delivering solutions.”
She also lauded women’s participation in the armed forces, and other leadership roles.
“I also proudly say that while we celebrate the potential of Indian women in permanent commission in the Indian Army, we also celebrate them when they touch the skies through the Indian Air Force or service at sea through the Indian Navy. Today 1.9 crore Indian women served in various administrative capacities under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi,” she added.
“India has now proven a social and economic case for gender justice. For keeping humanity in, keep women in your considerations,” she added.