Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said her gover‑nment in New Delhi is working with a mantra of women-led development, and it has helped in empowering them.
She said the PM Awas housing scheme, where a majority of the beneficiaries are women, and the Ujjwala gas connection for poor women have helped empower them.
The total number of gas connections in India rose from 14 crores to 32 crores since the incumbent BJP government came to power in 2014. A majority of the new gas connections were under the Ujjwala scheme that started in 2016
“230 million women received their bank accounts for the first time courtesy of the Jan Dhan Yojna. Of the 400 million loans given out, 70 per cent of beneficiaries were women with women-owned businesses, which means, 280 million women-owned businesses received funds. The NPA was less than 2.5 per cent”, said Minister Irani at an event organised by the industry body Confederation of India Industry, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
CII in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Child Development and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation set up WeLead Lounge at Davos 2024.
Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the lounge. This initiative is devoted to capacity building, mainstreaming and sharing some of the best practices in the industry and taken across the spectrum.
The minister further asserted that the private sector should not only focus on capital flows but “also on informing us better on implementing inclusion.”
Speaking at the Forum on Tuesday, Union Minister Smriti Irani asserted that the New Delhi G20 summit ensured that the gender issue was discussed in the mainstream and highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to ensure that women’s issues must be addressed through concrete policy actions.
“India’s G20 Presidency ensured that the gender issue was not reduced to the sidelines. Gender, even before India’s presidency was always compelled to depend on civil society action. PM Modi brought it to the centre stage and implored economies across the world to ensure issues of women are addressed through concrete policy actions and the multiple layers of governance has reflected that resolve,” Union Minister Irani said.
She said India is well positioned, be it the agenda of women’s health or education, or servicing the AI and technology needs of the world, as well as sharing some of its best practices.
“There are many digital platforms that India has offered for engagement globally – for example, the digital platform that was created for the delivery of vaccines during the pandemic, the CoWIN application, or the largest nutrition programme in the world that India runs on a digital platform, and we are happy to help our partners, whether in G20 or the BRICS,” the minister added.
