International Women's Day: Being a woman in Narendra Modi's New India

After spending years and years in leadership roles in bulge bracket firms and having worked with the biggest and the best names with the likes of JP Morgan, Phillip Capital and others, when I chose to join politics, it came as a surprise to some and as a rude shock to many in my family and my close circle of friends. My former colleagues would tell me then: “You are raking in the moolah, making so much money, why on earth are you quitting?” Well, as long as I worked in the corporate sector, I worked very hard for every penny that I earned. I have created wealth for myself thanks to not only the obnoxious salaries that people like me were paid but also because of the exponential rise in the value of ESOPs that people like me got, which are now worth multi-million dollars. During my corporate stint, I toured the world on umpteen occasions, given the nature of the work at hand. I come from a family where all my siblings are in top-notch roles in some of the biggest investment banks globally. Against this backdrop, to suddenly give up the adrenaline rush that comes with such a high-flying corporate career, to settle down for the hurly-burly of Indian politics seemed suicidal, to most of my well-wishers. But I was clear in my mind, I would join politics only when I knew I could commit 100 per cent and more to think beyond “I, me, myself” and serving the people and the society at large and be able to make a difference to the lives of the less fortunate and the less privileged. Without an iota of doubt, joining the BJP has been one of the best decisions I ever made. There cannot be a better time for women to be in politics. Thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and foresight, India’s political landscape has transformed from an incompetent, lethargic and clumsy bull in a China shop under the erstwhile Congress regime, to a lithe, agile, energetic, vibrant and thriving democracy, which showcased to the world, during the pandemic, why India, with its healing touch, is all set to be a “Vishwaguru”. Contrary to popular perception, the BJP is a highly progressive and modern organisation, where meritocracy rules the roost. The BJP is the world’s largest political organisation today, with over 185 million karyakartas (dedicated BJP members and workers). If the BJP has turned into an election-winning behemoth, it owes that to Prime Minister Modi, who leads by example, working 24/7, relentlessly and feverishly, with no room for lapses. As the national spokesperson of the BJP and even much before I got into that role, I always found the BJP top brass to be very gender sensitive. No one till this day from the BJP has ever told me what to eat, what to wear or how to conduct myself in public life. Better still, no one has even bothered to ask me what my sartorial preferences are or what cuisine I prefer and that is exactly how it should be. Despite coming from a family of  bankers and investment bankers, I have never felt like an outsider and have completely blended into the BJP’s political and cultural milieu. That women are discriminated against or treated as a lesser species within the BJP, is something you will find only in the utterly biased and trashy Oped columns of The Washington Post or The New York Times, written by some junior, leftist, Modi hating editor, masquerading as a neutral journalist, who is far removed from the ground realities of Modi’s “New India”. How have women fared in Modi’s New India? What has Prime Minister Modi done to transform the lives of Indian women? Well, among the many progressive measures by Prime Minister Modi, one that stands out for its sheer scale, size, reach and of course, the manner in which it has revolutionized the lives of millions of Indian women is the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). Since inception, over 39 crore people have benefitted from total loans sanctioned, in excess of Rs 20 lakh crore. Of this 35 crore, over 74 per cent of the beneficiaries are women, especially those belonging to the marginalised sections of society. Over 81 per cent of the beneficiaries under Modi’s Standup India scheme, are women. Similarly, cooking food, using a gas connection may not be a big deal for many but for the “eight crore-th” beneficiary of Modi’s Ujjwala scheme from Maharashtra, Ayesha Shaikh, getting a gas cylinder was nothing short of a major milestone. For this daily wager, Ayesha, who is a mother of five, from Ajanta village, the days of fetching dry wood from nearby areas for cooking on a humble ‘chulha’, billowing toxic smoke, are over. Ayesha’s inspiring story is not an isolated case. More than 9 crore women have benefitted from PM Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY). India under Prime Minister Modi has fully endorsed the United Nations in its “Think equal, build smart, innovate for change’, motto, with regard to women’s empowerment. Now women have an opportunity to have permanent employment in the Indian Army and Indian Navy, something that was unthinkable earlier. But if there is one thing that stirred the imagination of 1.4 billion people, more than anything else, it was Prime Minister Modi’s unabashed acknowledgement from the ramparts of the Red Fort, a few years back, of how over 8,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras had provided around 5 crore sanitary pads at Re 1, to poor women in rural India. For Modi, an international leader of towering repute, to openly embrace and mainstream the issue of women’s hygiene,(menstruation) is not mere symbolism. By doing what he did, Prime Minister Modi sent a strong message, that for him, good governance is all about walking the talk, with no ifs and buts whatsoever. From defining the nation’s first menstrual hygiene protocol, amending the Medical Termination Pregnancy Act of 1971, giving women reproductive rights over their bodies and increasing the fetal gestation period from 20 to 24 weeks, welcoming more women recruits in the NCC, which is being extended to border and coastal areas, to criminalising the inhuman and unconstitutional practice of instant triple talaq and the bold decision to increase marriageable age from 18 to 21 years for women, the Modi government has truly exhibited a fearless, women-friendly approach which is both mature and modern, and something, which no other government in post-Independent India can dare boast of. Banning commercial surrogacy which had led to mushrooming of illegal IVF and surrogacy clinics, was yet another bold move by the Modi government. According to the new laws, only married Indian couples, who have been together for a minimum of five years and have been deemed medically unfit by a doctor or practitioner to conceive children naturally, will be allowed to depend on a surrogate. Women empowerment is not just about gender equality and gender justice. It also means more jobs, and equal opportunities for growth and entrepreneurship. If there is one leader who has recognized women for what they are and who they are, it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Whether it is providing free cooking gas via the famous PM Ujjwala Yojana, financial inclusion via PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), or enabling women to leverage technology, a slew of schemes has been launched in recent years to empower women on the path of self-reliance. For instance, over 55 per cent of beneficiaries under the PMJDY scheme whereby over 48 crore bank accounts have been opened, are women. Also, Self-help groups (SHGs) in rural areas are being encouraged. In the last eight years, over 80 million, that is, over eight crore women working in SHGs have been provided with funds of over Rs 5.5 lakh crore. SHGs have created opportunities across a plethora of sectors. Speaking of women empowerment, Mahila-E-Haat, a portal featuring 2,000 products, is a bilingual online marketing platform that leverages technology to help aspiring women entrepreneurs, self-help groups (SHGs) and NGOs, showcase their products and services. Among the many services provided by Mahila-E-Haat is, facilitating direct contact between vendors and buyers and it is open to all Indian women above the age of 18. The Modi government also launched the “Mahila Shakti Kendras” with a presence in over 115 districts, to empower rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition. The Modi government, a few years back, also launched affordable “Working Women Hostels”, on a war footing, to ensure the availability of safe and convenient accommodation for working women and single mothers, along with day-care facilities for their children, wherever possible in urban, semi-urban and rural areas. Again, the Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) scheme,is intended to benefit women who are in the age group of 16 years and above, across the country. The skills imparted include,but are not limited to, agriculture, horticulture, food processing, handlooms, tailoring, stitching, embroidery, zari, handicrafts, computers & IT-enabled services. Also, the Modi government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative, is so much more than just a mission statement, best exemplified by the surge in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) in Haryana, from 871 in 2015 to 914 in 2017, with districts like Panipat and Yamunanagar reporting SRB of 945 and 943 for every 1,000 males. The increase in the overall sex ratio is a combination of increased life expectancy of women and improvement in the sex ratio at birth or the number of female births for every 1,000 male births. The overall sex ratio today stands at 1020 females for every 1,000 males, with the number of females exceeding the number of males, for the first time ever. That again is a good sign. To cut a long story short, on every conceivable parameter, girls in India are far safer today than they were, say eight years back. Modi is a truly progressive statesman with a liberated mindset; a modern, sensitive, a thinking leader, who has uplifted scores of women by strengthening policy-making tools, to deliver, where it matters most. Sweeping amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act of 2015, lowers the trial age for heinous crimes like rape and murder from 18 years to 16 years. A 16-year-old will now be treated and punished like any other adult as per the due process of law, under Sections 376 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code,which bodes well for young girls who are victims of sexual assault. Leftist cheerleaders who have been mocking the Beti Bachao campaign would do well to know that the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, to facilitate the education of the girl child, has already reached out to more than 4 crore aspirational young women. Unarguably, however, the landmark achievement of the BJP government to further the cause of “Beti Bachao”, has been the over 11 crore toilets built in rural India under the “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”, scheme. Again, India has over 80,000 startups, with at least 45 per cent of them having women entrepreneurs. More than 15% of India’s over 108 Unicorns have women as the founders and that number is rapidly growing. Credit access to women has doubled in the last five years. The loan penetration among women borrowers has shot up to 14 per cent in 2022 from 7 per cent in 2017. Credit access is the ratio of women borrowers to the total adult population. According to a report by TransUnion (TU) Cibil, women borrowers in India have increased at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent over the last five years compared to 11 per cent for male borrowers. The share of women borrowers has increased to 28 per cent in 2022 from 25 per cent in 2017. The number of women seeking business loans has more than tripled in the last five years (2017 to 2022), which reflects the growth of women-led Startups in India. During this period, the share of women in the overall business loan portfolio has also increased by 12 percentage points (32 per cent in 2022 versus 20 per cent in 2017). An increase in the share of women borrowers is also observed in the home loan segment, growing by 6 percentage points in the last five years. Out of 78 ministers post the cabinet expansion in July 2021, 11 in Modi’s cabinet today, are women. This is the highest number of women in the Union Council of Ministers in the last 17 years. That shows how women-centric polity has taken firm roots, thanks to Prime Minister Modi’s massive outreach on this front. 28% of women officers in the Indian armed forces today have been given permanent commission status. There are over 3938 women officers in the Army, Air Force and Navy of which over 1107 received the permanent commission by end of March 2022. The Indian Air Force, for example, has 1,500 plus women officers, including 15 fighter pilots and 53 helicopter pilots. The Indian Navy has over 593 women officers. Those numbers have only risen in the last year and are slated to go even higher. “Women empowerment is crucial to India’s growth. Days of seeing women as just ‘home makers’ have gone, we have to see women as nation builders”, is something Narendra Modi tweeted in January 2014, even before he became the PM and that tweet sums up the progressive mindset of the Modi government, in more ways than one. Nirmala Sitharaman, under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership previously served as the Defence Minister of India, thereby becoming India’s second female Defence minister and is now the second female Finance minister after Indira Gandhi. Sitharaman is also the first full-time female minister to hold each of those portfolios. Similarly, the late Sushma Swaraj served as the Indian Minister of External Affairs under Prime Minister Narendra Modi from May 2014 to May 2019. Swaraj was only the second woman to hold this position after Indira Gandhi. Again, take the example of Pratima Bhoumik, who is the first woman, BJP Member of Parliament in Tripura and only the second from the North East. Bhoumik is also the first permanent resident to become a Union Minister after being appointed to the Union Cabinet as MoS, Social Justice and Empowerment. Most importantly, India’s 15th President, Droupadi Murmu, is the embodiment of how “naari shakti” in Modi’s India, is essentially about the ability to dream, the willingness to work hard and the determination to succeed, unwaveringly and undeterred. That Murmu is also the first tribal leader who is now India’s First Citizen, as India celebrates “Amrit Kaal”, makes Murmu’s achievements even more notable. Suffice to conclude by saying that in Modi’s India, a Santhali woman from a remote village in the Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, is today the proud occupant of Raisina Hill. That inspiring journey of Droupadi Murmu is also an ode to the farsightedness and astute vision of Prime Minister Modi, who remains one of the most popular and powerful leaders globally and for good reason. Suffice it to say, in Modi’s “New India”, there is no limit to what, we as women, can accomplish. The world is our oyster. The writer is an economist, national spokesperson for BJP and bestselling author of The Modi Gambit. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.