Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that women’s economic empowerment fuels growth and the most effective way to empower women is through a women-led development approach, which India has adopted.

Mr Modi was addressing the G20 Ministerial Conference on Women Empowerment held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, via video message.

The Prime Minister said when women prosper, the world prospers. Their access to education drives global progress. Their leadership fosters inclusivity. And, their voices inspire positive change.

India’s President Droupadi Murmu sets an inspiring example herself, he said. She comes from a humble tribal background, and now leads the world’s largest democracy and serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the world’s second largest defence force.

Narrating India’s women’s empowerment story, he said “our goal should be to create a level platform where women achievers become the norm,” he said.

“We must work to remove the barriers that restrict their access to markets, global value-chains, and affordable finance. At the same time, we need to ensure that the burden of care and domestic work is appropriately addressed,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said he was delighted that under the Indian Presidency, a new Working Group on ‘Women Empowerment’ has been established.

He told the conference that “Your focus on women entrepreneurship, leadership and education is commendable. I am also glad that you are launching the ‘Tech-Equity Platform’ to enhance digital and financial literacy for women.”

Referring to Indian achievements, he said in this Mother of Democracy, the Right to Vote was granted equally to all citizens, including women, by the Indian Constitution right from the beginning. The right to contest elections was also granted on an equal basis.

Elected Women representatives have been key agents of economic, environmental and social change, he said. At 1.4 million, 46 per cent of elected representatives in rural local bodies in India are women.

The mobilisation of women into Self-Help Groups has also been a powerful force for change, he said. During the pandemic, these Self-Help Groups and Elected Women representatives emerged as pillars of support for local communities, Mr Modi said.

They manufactured masks and sanitizers as well as created awareness about infection prevention, he said. More than 80 per cent of nurses and mid-wives in India are women. “They were our first line of defence during the pandemic. And, we are proud of their achievements,” the Prime Minister said.

“Women-led development has been a key priority for us in India,” he said. Around 70 per cent of loans under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana have been sanctioned to women. These are loans up to one million rupees to support micro-level units. Similarly, 80 per cent of beneficiaries under Stand-Up India are women, availing bank loans for green field projects.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, nearly 100 million cooking gas connections have been provided to rural women. Provision of clean cooking fuel directly impacts the environment and improves women’s health, he said. The number of women in technical education in the Industrial Training Institutes has doubled since 2014.

Nearly 43 per cent of STEM graduates in India, that is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, are women, he said. About one-fourth of space scientists in India are women.

“Behind the success of our flagship programmes like Chandrayaan, Gaganyaan and Mission Mars, lies the talent and hard work of women scientists. Today, more women are enrolling in higher education than men in India,” he said.

“We also have one of the highest percentages of female pilots in civil aviation. And, female pilots in the Indian Air Force are now flying fighter aircrafts. Women officers are being deployed in operational roles and fighting platforms in all our armed forces,” the Prime Minister proudly disclosed.

He said women entrepreneurs are significant contributors to the global economy. The role of women entrepreneurs in India is not new. Decades ago, in 1959, seven Gujarati women in Mumbai came together to create a historic cooperative movement — Shri Mahila Grih Udyog, he said.

“Since then, it has transformed the lives of millions of women and their families. Their most famous product, Lijjat Papad, will probably be on your menus in Gujarat,” he told the G20 delegates.

“Another success story of our cooperative movement is the dairy sector. This is also powered by women. In the State of Gujarat alone, there are 3.6 million women involved in the dairy sector,” he said.

And, there are many, many more such inspiring stories all over India. In India, about 15 per cent of unicorn start-ups have at least one-woman founder. The combined value of these women-led unicorns is over 40 billion dollars, he said.