Bengaluru: In an oblique reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule , Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday stated that the women in public life in the country has dipped to 24 percent post 2014 while it was 30 per cent before. Siddaramaiah attributed the dip in number of women taking part in public life to the following of ‘Manuvadi’ principles in the country and said that followers of Manuvadi do not wish women to step out of the houses.
The Chief Minister accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shedding crocodile tears over women empowerment in the country.
At the launch of ‘Shakti’ scheme wherein women can travel free of cost in State government buses including Express buses across the State, Siddaramaiah furnished details of women in public life in some of the developed countries is more and said that women participation in Bangladesh is about 30 per cent, United States of America is about 57 percent, China is about 54 percent, Australia is about 65 percent and Indonesia is about 53 percent.
“The figures should rise and for that women need to be empowered,” Siddaramaiah said of the need to launch ‘Shakti’ scheme and felt that the ‘Shakti’ scheme is to reduce inequality in the society. He observed that for a nation to develop participation of women in public life is of vital importance and “all women should have equal role in the society.”
Out of the 5-guarantees made to the voters before coming to power in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said four of them have been meant for women empowerment which include Anna Bhagya distribution of rice to BPL families, Griha Jyothi scheme free power and Griha Laxmi scheme to provide Rs 2,000 monthly allowance to female head of a family.
Later at a press conference, the Chief Minister said about 41.85 lakh women would be benefited under the ‘Shakthi’ scheme.
