Smriti Irani lauds PM Modi for empowering women, says working for him a 'privilege'

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Friday talked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Women-Led Development and listed out the Indian government's efforts to promote women empowerment at all levels.

Speaking at the annual session on 'Strengthening Resilience Expanding Prosperity', Irani said that India has the highest proportion of female politicians in panchayats, a rural government system, and in urban local governments.

Comparing the engagement of men with women in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she informed that women have done better. The Union minister asserted that this is the direction in which they should proceed.

She went on to say that "we need to make sure that we can help women improve their capacity to serve." The Union minister informed that women have been mentioned many times in the context of requiring assistance, but she believes that they require more opportunities to study the best practices from around the world.

Smriti Irani highlights PM Modi vision for women empowerment 

Union Minister Smriti Irani praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts in empowering women and informed that during the COVID pandemic, the country had over six million female doctors and medical health professionals who led the charge in confronting and combating the 2019 coronavirus. She added that a consistent effort by the government to ensure that women's basic needs are met has been seen. 

"It has been my consistent privilege to have worked for a Prime Minister who has focused on prioritising women representation at all levels in every department in government," Irani said. 

Pointing out the various steps the Narendra Modi-led government has taken for the security and empowerment of women, Irani talked about the construction of toilets under the Prime Minister's flagship Swachh Bharat Mission programme and mentioned that PM Modi, for the first time, institutionalised menstrual hygiene administrative protocol for women in the country. Separately, she also talked about the country's National Education Policy (NEP) finally seeing a change after three decades.

"We are proud that our girls are not only leading in the medal tally at the #Olympics but also heading our space missions," the Union Minister said while interacting with Rich Verma, the former US Ambassador to India.

Some Central schemes implemented to empower women in the country include:   

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
• One Stop Centre Scheme
• Universalisation of Women Helpline Scheme
• UJJAWALA : A Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-integration of Victims of Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation
• Setting up of Working Women Hostels
• Swadhar Greh (A Scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances)
• Nari Shakti Puraskar
• Stree Shakti Puruskar
• Mahila Shakti Kendras (MSK)
• Nirbhaya fund

(With inputs from ANI, Image: PTI)