When it came to securing the “home” (read India) from terrorists, she was there at the forefront, shoulder-to-shoulder with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was part of the planning that went into the Balakot air strikes wherein the brave Indian soldiers smashed the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camps operating from inside Pakistan.
Now, she has shown the world how well she can run the “household” with focus on womenfolk, just like any other working woman or a housewife would think of while running her home.
After her role as Defence Minister was much appreciated by one and all across the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s presentation of the Union Budget today, which highlighted women empowerment with a focus on women centric initiatives — proved once again that a woman at the helm can run the show to perfection, in tune with the country’s tradition of Naari tu hi Narayani!
A soft spoken Sitharaman presented the first Budget — balancing it out between women, farmers, middle class and all other key sectors — amidst thundering applause from all her Cabinet colleagues, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi while her proud parents Savitri and Narayanan Sitharaman watched their daughter from the gallery. Incidentally, Nirmala is only the second woman to present the Union Budget after Indira Gandhi.
Praising the Finance Minister, Pinky Anand, additional Solicitor General of India says, “Nirmala Sitharaman embodies the words of Swami Vivekananda when he said, ‘Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached’. She has led by example and shown the women of our country that no goal is unattainable.”
Meanwhile, BJP MP from Mathura, Hema Malini tweeted, “It feels great that a woman MP is presenting the Union Budget. Nari is Narayani...agar ye humare desh mein log samajh len toh ye jo hinsa ho rahi hain mahilaon ke prati, that will stop.”
“Swami Vivekananda had said that there is no chance for welfare of the world unless the condition of woman is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing. We can only make progress with greater woman participation,” said Nirmala Sitharaman as she presented the Budget.
Encouraging more and more women to come forward and shine in their respective fields, the Finance Minister also announced that one woman in every self-help group will be made eligible for a loan of up to `1 lakh under the MUDRA scheme. “Even today, there are a record number of 78 women MPs in the House. The turnout of women in the Lok Sabha election was at par with men. India’s growth story is incomplete without women,” she said to a large round of applause from all the women MPs present.
She added, “A nation where women are empowered surely scales the best on an economic and social index. Indian women account for 7.5 per cent of the total world population, hence the growth of Indian women can surely affect the world and the Indian economy positively.”
“There is no doubt women will gain immensely from this budget. This budget proves that ‘Women Led’ development is not merely a slogan for our government but is almost a certainty!” says BJP leader Karuna Gopal.
It certainly seems like the newly formed government has got this point right. “The first step towards progress was to appoint a woman Finance Minister and now, the women-centric budget proves that India is on the right path to progress. Gender parity and pay parity which are so prevalent in Indian society have long been an obstacle in the economic growth of India. Hopefully, we are seeing greener pastures in our rise ahead and I am sure it will be a win-win situation for both Indian women and India,” says Kamini Saraf of the FICCI Ladies Organisation.
