सभी को नमस्कार,

बड़ा सुकून महसूस कर रहा हूँ। Dais की तरफ देखता हूँ, तो ⅔ महिलाएं हैं। सामने देखता हूँ, तो ¾ हैं। कितना decorum है, कितना सुकून है। यह प्रेरणा भारत की संसद भी आपसे लेगी।

Ladies and gentlemen, the first session of Parliament as we enter the last quarter of this century of adoption of the Indian Constitution. For me it is starting with this occasion. I feel gratified.

This is a momentous occasion because on Foundation Day we reflect what we have done and we chalk out a path ahead. Now when there are more achievements, when there are more affirmative developments, the challenges are more with respect to women and women empowerment, we have for the first time a Constitutional prescription, reservation for women, to the extent of one third, in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures.

Women are breaking every ceiling and they are in combat positions in defence forces. All around there is an ecosystem that is affirmative for them. Women have tested development, women of this country at the moment are most aspirational and when a segment is most aspirational, the challenges are enormous because energy has to be regulated. I have no doubt, without the contribution of half of humanity, neither the planet can be happy nor the nation can prosper.

Soothing aspect is that Bharat, home to one sixth of humanity, is getting indulgent attention of its mothers, sisters, they are contributing hugely. The National Commission for Women has to realise its strength. I firmly believe strength is never in exercise of power. Strength is in realisation of limitations, your limitations define your power.

I would urge the Commission to set a new trend, the trend is information dissemination and constructive persuasion, generating sensation or using coercive mechanisms to hit the headlines should be the last priority if not to be avoided at all. We have seen that the best of the works being done are tempted by isolated instances only to generate sensation and hit the headlines.

There must be a culture to work in silence, to work silently, to work in a subterranean area. I would urge the media to be extremely sensitive. It is easy for a media person to sit on the desk and create sensation, go into the minor details, micro details of an incident, ignoring the overall system, which is extremely soothing. I would therefore, urge that this will shortly be adopted.

From the development of women, we have marched into women-led development and, why not? Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will create another history. The first woman finance minister to have presented the largest number of budgets, a rare achievement for her, I am sure you can clap on this.

Nirmala Sitharaman has created a record and is a beacon now to every woman. NCW's role is twofold, NCW has to be North Star when women organisations or individual women look for guidance and, that has to be the fundamental situation. They must look up to you, for guidance, for development, for progress. When it comes to some kind of difficulties, then it has to act the other way around.

When we look at our civilisational journey, women have dominated public discourse. They had a level playing field, Vedic scholar Gargi exemplifies it so, women-led development is not new to this country that has civilisational depth of 5,000 years. Gender justice is much beyond legal framework or Constitutionalism.

It is embodied in our ancient scriptures. यत्र नार्यस्तु पूज्यन्ते रमन्ते तत्र देवताः Very significant, where women are revered, where women are respected, when women are treated with sublimity, when women are treated with sensitivity, there is divine presence. You feel divinity but what I see is a great challenge which is not noticed.

Subtle discrimination, discrimination which is refined at workplace, in politics, or otherwise, is a greatest challenge to your gender because, you can't make an issue of subtle discrimination but subtle discrimination is very painful. I would expect the commission to brainstorm, generate a national claim that this subtle discrimination gets resonance.

Second, the normal urge, the male urge to dominate, is not sublime human instinct. It does not fit in our human soul but we can't deny that men are ever inclined to dominate.

This dominance has to end, this dominance is psychologically depressing for women because when it comes to meritocracy and talent, they are next to none. I therefore, would urge let us create a system in trade, industry, commerce, business, politics, academia, and the like, that in fiscal reward women should be on equal footing. Unfortunately, this is not the trend.

The commission has to deal with this issue, because these are the issues. Today we think there is a woman bureaucrat, a woman scientist, a woman entrepreneur, a woman academic, a woman vice-chancellor. But their challenges are different than their codes. We must genuinely work to bring about most authentic equality, gender equality.

Democratic foundations rest on policymaking and policymaking requires thought process and the thought process comes out of experience. Nature has gifted so bountifully women that their thought process has potential, because they act as sister, daughter, mother, grandmother, maternal grandmother, they know it.

Fortunately, they will have a decisive role now, when we have more than one third, I say more than one third, because one third is reserved. They can go to the other seats also, they will be part of policymaking, and that will be a great development for the nation. If India has to achieve, and which it will achieve, develop status by 2047, if not earlier, that India has to be fuelled by our women, our girls.

They will have to fire on all cylinders to realise the dream we have set for ourselves. Let me put it, it is not a dream, it is an object now because no nation in the world has grown so exponentially in the last decade as Bharat has done. This has resulted in Bharat to be the most aspirational nation in the world and when you are aspirational, ये दिल मांगे मोर! If I take to any walk of life, my experience has been women have outperformed men. In Parliament, you will be amazed, on the table, we have more than 50% women. I have started the process.

When it comes to panel of the vice chairpersons, minimum 50% have to be women. When the women's reservation bill was passed in Rajya Sabha, the Council of States, 17 women sat in my chair. The two male, me and Dr. Harivansh, were constitutionally compelled to be there, I being the chairman and he being the deputy chairman. We yielded the entire group around and the debate was excellent.

Education alone can empower but for women, it is more important because they are quick to learn, they are quick to skill, they are quick to adopt and what they learn is easily accessible, largely.

When it comes to sports, our girls have done wonders and in wrestling, in Kushti, amazing. For constraint of time, I will conclude with one observation.

I am optimistic about Bharat, I am sanguine about Bharat, I am confident about Bharat because I am confident about your gender.

Thank you so much.

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JK/RC/SM

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