Women-led startups in India are making a global mark, and they hold the promise to realise the Viksit Bharat goal, said Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology on Monday.

Speaking to a delegation of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry – Ladies Organisation (FICCI-FLO), the Minister said that women have made a mark even in difficult sectors like the space.

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He said this citing the example of India’s Solar mission “Aditya L1” which is led by Nigar Shaji who became known as ISRO’s “Sunny Lady”.

“Women-led development is a key priority of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance agenda with the vision that women-led startups will place India on the global map in the years to come and our women entrepreneurs have the potential to realise that goal,” Singh said.

He added that from 2014 onwards, women’s empowerment has got a practical meaning with many of the welfare schemes. This includes entrepreneurship-promoting schemes like PM MUDRA and PM Vishwakarma schemes largely benefiting the women workforce.

The Union Minister further said that women are moving away from a long-held participatory role to a leadership role in every sphere of life and every profession.

Singh informed that nearly 70 per cent of the youth who have availed financial assistance under PM Mudra Yojana are women.

They have used the scheme to set up their own means to earn livelihoods for themselves and become job providers for others.

Calling traditional artisans and craftsmen an “exclusive asset of India”, the Union Minister said that these have been brought into the mainstream with the launch of PM Vishwakarma Yojana.

“The traditional artisans and craftsmen are as integral as anything in Indian society who have kept alive the centuries-old traditions and crafts of the country but were never taken care of since independence,” he said.