Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India’s 1.4 million elected women representatives in rural local bodies have been key agents of economic, environmental and social change in India.
Mr. Modi, who was addressing the G-20 Ministerial Conference on Women Empowerment in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, via video-conferencing, underlined the need to find urgent and sustainable solutions for issues like climate change and global warming.
The Prime Minister said that women’s economic empowerment fuels growth and their access to education drives global progress. “When women prosper, the world prospers,” he said.
He stressed that the most effective way to empower women is through a women-led development approach and cited President Droupadi Murmu’s example. “She comes from a humble tribal background. But now leads the world’s largest democracy and serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the world’s second largest defence force,” the Prime Minister said.
He said that elected women representatives have been key agents of economic, environmental and social change , noting that 46% of elected representatives in rural local bodies in India are women numbering 1.4 million.
“The economic empowerment of women fuels growth. Their access to education drives global progress. Their leadership fosters inclusivity and their voices inspire a positive change,” he said, adding that the goal should be to create a level-playing platform where women achievers become the norm.
“We must work to remove barriers which restrict their access to markets, global value chain and affordable finance,” he stated.
Around 70% of the loans of up to ₹10 lakh have been sanctioned to support micro-level units under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana and 80% of beneficiaries under Stand-Up India are women who are availing bank loans for greenfield projects, he said.
Mr. Modi also highlighted the pivotal roles played by women as the backbone of rural agricultural families and as small traders and shopkeepers.
Underlining their close association with nature, he said that women hold the key to innovative solutions to climate change and recalled how women led the first prominent climate action in India in the 18th century when the Bishnoi community of Rajasthan, led by Amrita Devi, started the ‘Chipko Movement’ to prevent unregulated logging.
The Prime Minister said women held traditional wisdom to reduce, reuse, recycle, and re-purpose materials.
