It's a proud moment to have women with these credentials and this commitment. I'm assured Bharat will be rich and fast at 2047. Because you represent the future. You are stakeholders and vital stakeholders.

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised. What a coincidence. Statesman published from West Bengal, a state where I had been governor for three years, carried a big interview of FLO, chairperson, Joyshree Das Verma.  A very detailed interview, extensive. It was absolutely soothing to note. And meeting you on this occasion with this background is important.

Congratulations, you are 40 plus. Am I right? Having started in 1983. The world is increasingly being dominated by your gender. Bharat Nari Shakti has been nurtured and it is blossoming our democracy now. It was a historic occasion. In September 2023, when Parliament passed the Women's Reservation Bill, that was on the table for three decades. For one reason or the other, it could not get through. It finally got through. One third reservation in Parliament and state legislatures.  And that reservation is horizontal and vertical. So it will have societal representation of all segments of society. What an achievement.

2023, Chandrayaan-3 landed on the moon and we had the rocket woman massively contributing. We had the occasion to go to ISRO and have face-to-face interaction with them. All women. What an achievement. This day, this year, a great occasion. Republic Day parade at Kartavya Path. My gender was nearly absent. 100% dominance of your gender. Could you ever imagine? We will have girls as combat pilots.

I am a product of Sainik School, Chittorgarh. We never thought Sainik schools will get co-ed. They have. Now girls are admitted to Sainik schools. But what is more significant? All girls Sainik school at Mathura. All girls Sainik school. A constituency being represented by Hema Malini ji. The dream girl is realising the dream of Bharat by empowering women. I was soothingly surprised and motivated.

Your resolve is power to empower. This has been very widely said. Ages ago, educating a boy and educating a girl is different.  When you educate a boy, you educate an individual. When you educate a girl, you educate the entire family. That's the big difference.

I have seen the kind of wide spectrum you are functioning. And look at the credentials. When someone says I'm a charter accountant, the saying is very simple.

All of you, as I gather from your profile already given to me, have made your way to the place. You have rationally, justifiably occupied the public space. You are working very hard. But I will make an appeal. By virtue of your position, you are a significant part of corporates.

Hand-holding is required for girls for two things. One, their education. And second, their skill development.  If you empower a girl, you cannot imagine what you are doing. Great. That will account for exponential, geometric growth of the society.

When a woman controls the purse of the family, the economy of the family, growth of the family is assured. This has been done in the last 10 years in a massive way. Imagine the kind of progress that has been registered.

If we thought of having toilets in every home, that is basically a relief to your gender. That is owning your dignity. If there is a concept of har-Ghar-me-Nal or har-ghar-me-Jal, that is doing justice to your gender.

I am from Rajasthan. Half a dozen of you are from Rajasthan. Miles have to be walked, with pitcher on the head, to get water to the house. That has been done. Can you imagine empowering households with gas connection? It's just due to your gender. 

कितनी तकलीफ़ होती थी माँ को बहन को दादी को They used to operate kitchen in those difficult situations. Look at the joy in the eyes of millions of women today. They own affordable housing. The government has such a mechanism.

Their sense of ownership has come to them. Unbelievable development. If there is a woman around who wants to do something, mudra loans are so easily available.

But yet, much distance has to be traversed. There is still strong headwind for a category of girls. Only yesterday you must have seen a great Supreme Court judgement. It is being debated in public platform. The assistance has to be equitable, uniform for all, irrespective of their religion. That's a big step.

We find increasing footprints of your gender in every walk of life. But let me tell you, to be fair to you, let me be honest to myself. You are elite class. You are highly enabled class. You are in the privileged category of society. You are not seeing what is known as shortage, destitution, challenges.

If you desire something, finances do not come in the way. But there are many others, meritorious, with great potential. They have great difficulty. They have to struggle. What you are doing is very commendable. I have gone through, particularly in the interview, what the mission is.

But please make it a point. That each one of you handholds in your capacity, I know. If you choose to handhold 100 girls, the impact will be very huge. Unbelievable. There could be nothing more important in life by way of satisfaction and happiness to handhold a girl who aspires to a good education but cannot have it. Who is insecure? If you go into historical perspective, nursing, who was at peak? Centuries ago, Florence Nightingale.

So there is urge in girls at all levels, particularly in villages, to work, to be financially self-sufficient. Because if you do not have financial power, you cannot be independent.

Your theme for 2024-25 is very commendable. It exemplifies the aspirations of 1.4 billion people. The theme is collective vision, collaborative action. This is a slight difference but reflecting the vision of the Prime Minister. सबका साथ, सबका विकास, सबका विश्वास, सबका प्रयास|

Let me give you some figures that will enliven you. Women empowerment is nothing but basically economic empowerment. Because they are talented, they are hard-working.  Under Mudra Yojana, 69% of 48 crore borrowers are women. 69%. That's about 28 crore women.

Imagine. And let me slightly digress. When I went to the NCC camp on Republic Day occasion, more than 40% is the girl component of NCC now. It's close to 50 as a matter of fact. So this is about Mudra. 70% of homes under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Grameen are women as sole or joint owners. 70%. And mind you, affordable housing scheme has already crossed a figure of 40 million women. Look at the concession the government has shown.

If a property is to be registered in the name of a girl or a woman, the government has very wisely, at central and state level, reduced stamp duty. So there is affirmative governance policies to ensure women continue to make their presence felt equitably after all, they have equal share.

45 laks girls and women have been given scholarships and 3 core plus sukanya samriddhi accounts. Just imagine, there was a time you could not open a bank account. Now the number of bank accounts is over 3 crore. And you'll be happy to note, the amount deposited in those accounts is 80,000 crores.

This is the plateau kind of development our Bharat will be really a developed nation when it's women empowerment takes place. Women power is unleashed. They can realise their potential, explore their talent, and fortify their dreams and aspirations.

You all are well educated. You all are doing gainfully something. You never had to face the challenges that are ordinarily faced by ordinary girls and women.

You therefore will have to introspect, be insightful, know of their problems, what is taken by us who are gifted by getting good quality education, good life, assured life, having no problem of food, housing, clothing. Look at the kind of suffering young talented girls face when they have to drop out from schools, colleges, for a lot of money. High scholarship enabled me to go to high school.

But for that scholarship, I would not have had quality education. So please, focus on education. Rather than enabling a girl or a woman by fiscal goals, enable them, make themselves sufficient so that they themselves become sufficient enough to hand-hold others.

Could you ever imagine India will be having a place of pride when it comes to female pilots in civil aviation? They are ahead of others. We can further do it. India is defining women empowerment.

 India is defining women-led empowerment. How gratifying it was to see a tribal woman of humble beginning to be the first region of this country, to be the president of this country. Hon’ble President of India, Droupadi Murmu, that is a signal to the entire world.

 In my own way, I stand committed to empower women in Parliament. For the first time, the chairperson's panel has 50% or more women. When Rajeshwar considered and passed the Women's Reservation Bill, on that day, 17 women parliamentarians sat in my chair, apart from me and the Hon’ble Deputy Chairperson, who hold constitutional positions, all were women.

 If you look at the proceedings of Parliament, look at the table, that table earlier had all males, now it has more than 50% females. That's been done. If I were to take a call, who will go out and represent our country, I give preference to your gender.

 I'm happy to tell you that their performance has been beyond anybody's expectations, not beyond my expectation, because I knew, I was assured they will perform. They actually performed. They are getting a new energy with greater participation.

 I would want to exert the influence in your families, in the corporates you are associated with, the people you know, and your spouses, that in a structured manner, they must generalise  CSR, specifically and predominantly for empowering girls, and get away from the proximate part of it. To help girls close by is good, but you have to reach out to the last mile. Once you do that, there will be hope generated in those minds that there is someone trying to handle us.  And now all over the country, you have 20 chapters. The last one is Siliguri.

 It should have been before, now it is there. But make it a point, your chapters must be there in every state of the country, and every union territory.

 I say so, why? One, when you step out of your homes, step out of your workplace, you get together, you converge at a point, synergy developed, then you become a force, and then you become a force, and then you can persuade, in a structured manner, industry associations, business associations, corporate associations, to make it a point. By and large, I see that there is some kind of a reservation. While considering a woman for a particular job, we must give them precedence.

 We must overcome the psychological barrier and I have no doubt, having seen each one of you introduce yourself. Nothing could be more energising for me on this day than this.

 I am interacting those who will become a piece of change, a centre of positive energy, and they will resolve from here that yes, if not 100 girls, at least in double digit, they will hand-hold girls, whenever I will come to Chennai.

*****

MS/RC/JK