Union Budget 2019: Hema Malini impressed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s ‘Naari Tu Narayani’ reference, here’s what the actor-MP said

Mathura Member of Parliament Hema Malini lauded Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as she presented the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The actor-politician was pleased with the announcements made for the education and rural sectors. She was, however, most delighted about the reforms for women and Sitharaman’s ‘Nari Tu Narayani’ reference which she felt was important to bring an end to the violence against women. 

READ: Union Budget 2019: 'Nari To Narayani,' Says Nirmala Sitharaman As She Proposes Agendas For Enhanced Women's Empowerment And Entrepreneurship

The actress-MP stated that they were very proud of a female Minister presenting the budget in the Parliament. She also stated that Sitharaman ably conducted herself to present a good budget, while even reciting verses in Tamil. Hema Malini was impressed with the announcements made for women, education and rural India and many other issues.  When asked about the Minister’s ‘Nari Tu Narayani’ quote, she said if everyone in the country understood that Nari is Narayani, then the violence against women across the nation would stop. 

In her maiden Union Budget speech at the Parliament on Friday, India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about the women of India, saying that the country's tradition has been ‘Naari Tu Narayani’.

Focusing on women empowerment, with the aim of boosting entrepreneurship among the women, Nirmala Sitharaman shared a quote from the letter of Swami Vivekananda to Swami Ramakrishananda which highlighted the importance of women for the world.

"Swami Vivekananda, in a letter to Swami Ramakrishananda, had said, 'there is no chance for the welfare of a world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing'," the Finance Minister said. 

Speaking about the government's aim to encourage and facilitate the role of women, Sitharaman proposed to form a broad committee in collaboration between government and private stakeholders in order to evaluate and suggest actions for moving forward.

"This government believes that we can make progress with greater women's participation. In India's growth story, particularly in the rural economy, in the Gramin Arth Vyavashta, the role of women is a very sweet story. This government wishes to encourage and facilitate the role of women. Gender analysis of the Budget aimed at examining the budgetary allocation through a gender lens has been in place for over a decade. I propose to form a broad-based committee by government and private stakeholders to evaluate and suggest actions for moving forward. There is no segment of human life where the contribution of women is not significant," she said. 

Adding that the government believes that India's women's role and leadership is distinct, Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted how the women's voter turnout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was the highest as compared to the previous elections. Not only this, the Finance Minister also brought to knowledge, the splendid number of women MPs in the Lower House of Parliament, which gained huge a cheer from the floor, as was seen. 

"This government firmly believes that the socio-economic transformation that is taking place, particularly in the last decade, India's women's role and leadership is distinct. The recent elections have shown record-turnout of women voters at par with men. We also have a record number of 78 women MPs here in this house," she added. 

In a massive move, Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to encourage women's entrepreneurship by expanding schemes such as MUDRA, Standup-India, Self Helf Groups among others. 

"This reinforces our approach of going beyond just women-centric policy making to building women-led initiatives and movements. This government has supported and encouraged women's entrepreneurship through various schemes such as MUDRA, Standup-India, Self Helf Groups and so on. In order to further encourage women enterprises, I propose to expand the women SHG to all districts in India. for every women SHG member having a Jan Dhan bank account an overdraft of 5,000 should be allowed. One woman in every SHG will also be made eligible to loan up to 1 lakh under the MUDRA scheme," Sitharaman concluded. 

READ: Union Budget 2019 Full Speech And Highlights: Everything Nirmala Sitharaman Said In The Modi Government 2.0's Maiden Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of initiatives and measures to kick-start growth in the economy, including the intention to invest Rs 100 lakh crore towards infrastructure in the next 5 years, to buttress the transformation of India into a $5 trillion economy.

A ten-point vision plan was voiced to allow for this, including:

• Building a social, physical infrastructure 
• Digital India reaching every corner of the economy 
• Pollution-free India with green Earth and blue skies
• Make In India with emphasis on MSME
• Startups for defence manufacturing, Automobiles, Electronics, Batteries and Medical devices
• Water and water management to build a blue economy
• Space programs - Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan and satellite programs
• Self-sufficiency and export of foodgrains, pulses, seeds, fruits and vegetables
• Health Society- Ayushmaan Bharat, well-nourished women and children, Safety of citizens
• Minimum government, maximum governance
• There was significant impetus for both startups, sunrise sectors as well as MSMEs, including the doing away of angel tax, an extention of the 25% tax rate slab for companies with up to Rs 400 crore turnover from the existing Rs 250 crore. An announcement towards further opening up FDI norms in various industries, as well as in streamlining of labour laws was also made.

There was plenty in there for individuals as well, particularly the assurance of housing, road connectivity, electricity and gas by 2022 as well as the empowering of the new Jal Shakti Ministry to accomplish the newly stated 'Har Ghar Jal' mission by 2024. Additionally, retailers and shop-owners will also be brought under the NPS pension scheme, while in a massive focus on education and research, 'Study in India' and 'National Research Foundation' were also announced.