Opinion | Modi Government Deserves More Credit for its Progressive, Pro-Women Stance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s prioritisation of “women-led development” is being noticed globally. Modi government, often mistaken for being traditionalist, has practised a very progressive approach towards women’s empowerment.

Under the G20 chairship of India, a new working group dedicated to the empowerment of women was set up. In his video message at the G20 Ministerial Conference on Women’s Empowerment, PM Modi had said that when women prosper, the world prospers. Their economic empowerment drives development, and their access to education drives global progress. Their leadership promotes inclusivity, and their voices inspire positive change. On women’s empowerment, PM Modi said that we must work to remove barriers that restrict women’s access to markets and global value chains. At the same time, we need to ensure that the burden of caregiving and domestic work is addressed appropriately.

“What PM Modi has done to acknowledge and amplify the contribution of women in science is commendable,” said Anand Iyer, Director at Fraunhofer Institute’s India Office, in an interview with News18. Iyer is the chair of the G20 Empower, Women in Science Working group.

By promoting women-led development, celebrating women’s contribution to the country and recognising the challenges they face, the Modi government is leading a significant movement of empowering women and freeing them from the shackles of dependency and discrimination.

Celebrating Women-Led Development

Through its years in power, the Modi government appointed a female defence and finance minister. India’s current President, Draupadi Murmu, is only the second woman in the country to hold that office. It appointed Mallika Srinivasan, an industry expert from the private sector, as the chief of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) which has tremendous sway over the government’s choice of appointments to their top management positions. Another inspiring name is that of Dr Shamika Ravi, who is a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council.

Indian women are also breaking stereotypes at work as they refuse to stay on the sidelines. India’s first female locomotive pilot, Surekha Yadav, was hailed by the prime minister. She is also the first female loco-pilot to drive the Vande Bharat train. With a flying experience of about 3,000 hours, Group Captain Shaliza Dhami became the first woman Air Force officer to get a Command Appointment in a combat unit. Similarly, braveheart Captain Shiva Chauhan of the Indian Army has become the first woman officer to be posted at Siachen where sub-zero temperatures dip to -60 degrees Celsius.

Bit by bit, Indian women are taking down restricting barriers and seizing the day as professionals in the fields of science, tech, governance, business and entertainment. Approximately 43 per cent of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) graduates in India are women, while around a quarter of space scientists in the country are female.

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission has a female Deputy Project Director, Kalpana K. Now, there are more female scientists and engineers in ISRO than ever before. The achievements of women scientists, driven by their talent and dedication, have played a pivotal role in the accomplishments of our flagship initiatives such as Chandrayaan, Gaganyaan, and Mission Mangal. Odisha’s Jyotirmayee Mohanty became the first Indian female scientist to win the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Award, 2023. In March, producer Guneet Monga and director Kartiki Gonsalves brought laurels to the country by winning an Oscar for their documentary ‘The Elephant Whisperers’.

Empowering Women at Every Level

“We cannot achieve success if 50 per cent of our population being women are locked at home,” said Narendra Modi in March, focusing on promoting Nari Shakti under India’s G20 Presidency. Women from every strata of society have benefitted from PM Modi’s enhanced vision, through various schemes, recognising the hindering challenges they face.

Under the PM Awas Yojana, more than 2.16 crore houses have been constructed out of the 2.85 crore sanctioned houses, with 69 per cent of the ownership being held either solely or jointly by women. By allotting the house jointly in the name of the husband and wife, the scheme has ensured the dignity and empowerment of women. Moreover, building toilets and ensuring smoke-free kitchens and drinking water facilities have freed women from daily struggles causing them indignity and poor health.

Women have also been the greatest beneficiaries of the PM Mudra Yojana and the Stand Up India scheme. Around 70 per cent of the loans have been sanctioned to women entrepreneurs under PMMY and 80 per cent of the beneficiaries under Stand-Up India are women.

Criminalising the practice of Triple Talaq, a form of instant divorce in Islam, wherein a man could divorce his wife instantly without citing any reason, was also a move in the direction of empowering women against the ills of society.

Fighting malnourishment in new mothers, providing cash incentives for poor first-time mothers, and enhanced maternity leave for women in the formal sector, all show dedication and care towards women’s health.

In a nation of 1.4 billion people, alleviating the hurdles faced by half of the population is not an easy task. But with a holistic approach targeting the basic needs of women, India has made an exemplary effort to empower them.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.