RS Dy Chairman Harivansh speaks on gender equality at G20 Parliamentary Speaker's meet

By Amit Kumar
Jakarta [Indonesia], October 7 : Recalling the guiding motto given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas' i.e. 'Development of all with the support of all and the trust of all' , Deputy Chairman Rajya Sabha Harivansh said that the slogan clearly manifests the spirit of social inclusion, gender equality and women's empowerment.
He spoke on 'Social Inclusion, Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment' at the G20 Parliamentary Speaker's meeting on Friday in the Jarkarta Capital of Indonesia.
Harivansh further said that this spirit is so much imbibed in Indian culture and social ethos that it has always been kept on a very high pedestal and has also been enshrined in Indian Constitution itself as gender equality to accord it a constitutional guarantee.
Underlining a big jump seen in the new start-ups in India by women, especially in areas regarded as men's domain, Harivansh said that it is a testimony to the fact that the focus of women's empowerment is now on the paradigm shift from women's development to women-led development.
He added that to give a boost to the women empowerment allocation for women-related schemes in India has been increased by 14 per cent.
Dy Chairman Harivansh highlighted that India is working in mission mode for ensuring women's education, safety, health, nutrition and sanitation and also ensuring their economic empowerment through skilling, digital literacy and financial inclusion.
Praising the role played by women during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the healthcare sector, Harivansh said that the women did a commendable job as frontline workers with more than 6 million women constituting around 70 per cent of the healthcare workforce in India.
Speaking about different social schemes for gender equality and social inclusion initiated in India, Harivansh informed that 81 per cent of loans amounting from one million to ten million rupees have been given to women under the stand-up India scheme.
In one of the largest financial inclusion programmes in the world, the PM Jan Dhan Yojana, more than 225 million women mostly in rural areas have benefited by opening their own bank accounts. Funds were directly transferred to the bank accounts of 28 million pregnant and lactating mothers. Under the PM Housing Scheme, most of the 20 million houses made are in the name of women.
Harivansh said that the present Head of the State in India is a woman and also there are at present 114 women Members in both Houses of Parliament of India which includes 10 Ministers. He also highlighted that the local elected bodies at the grassroots level in India have now become the nurseries of future women leaders having more than 1.45 million i.e. 46-50 per cent of women as elected members.
Harivansh called upon the parliamentarians of G20 countries to move on with the mission to make better the lives of all rich and poor, high and low, men and women and coming together to make a huge difference.
An Indian Parliamentary Delegation (IPD) led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is visiting Jakarta, Indonesia from 5-7 October 2022 to attend the Eighth G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20).