Women In New India
Clearly, welfarism under Modi has truly been a means to empower women. From armed forces to entrepreneurship, women are taking charge across sectors
Kiran Kumari from Bokaro in Jharkhand was a hawker. Now, she is a proud toy and gift shop owner after receiving a loan of Rs 2 lakh, thanks to PM Narendra Modi's flagship scheme, Mudra Yojana.
Munirabanu Shabbir Hussain Malek from Surat received a Mudra loan of Rs 1.77 lakh, took LMV driving training, and is now earning Rs 25,000 per month by driving an auto rickshaw.
Veena Devi from Kathua District of Jammu and Kashmir, who worked as a weaver, received a Mudra loan of Rs 1 lakh and is now one of the leading manufacturers of Pashmina shawls in her area.
Clearly, welfarism under Modi has truly been a means to empower women. India now has over 1.76 lakh start-ups, with at least 45% of them being founded or co-founded by women entrepreneurs. The number of women seeking business loans has more than tripled in the last 11 years.
If there is one area that has seen a sea change in terms of fabulous opportunities for women, it is women's participation in the Indian Armed Forces, with a renewed focus on inclusivity, equal opportunities, and breaking gender barriers. The Permanent Commission, for example, has now been extended to women officers in the Indian Army, allowing them to serve in command roles and have longer careers—previously limited to only Short Service Commission.
Over 557 women officers have received Permanent Commissions. In 2021, the government removed gender barriers, allowing women to join the NDA, a significant step towards enabling women to train for officer roles in the armed forces from an early stage. In 2023, a proposal granting women soldiers, sailors, and air warriors the same leave terms as female officers—including 180 days of maternity leave, 360 days of childcare leave, and 180 days for child adoption—was approved. This aims to improve work-life balance and encourage more women to join the forces.
The Modi government also opened combat roles for women, disrupting traditional restrictions. In 2015, the Indian Air Force began inducting women as fighter pilots, with Bhawana Kanth becoming the first woman qualified for combat missions in 2019. The Army approved women officers' induction into the Regiment of Artillery in 2023. The Navy has assigned women officers to ship duties and as pilots for Remotely Piloted Aircraft.
The Agnipath recruitment scheme, introduced in 2022, includes women as Agniveers, enabling them to serve in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Navy has already started recruiting women, with the other services preparing to follow.
The number of women in the armed forces has nearly tripled since 2014. As of 2023, over 7,000 women serve in the Army, 1,875 in the Air Force, and 748 in the Navy, including medical and dental officers. Women are now commissioned in multiple streams, such as Corps of Engineers, Army Aviation, and Intelligence Corps.
The Modi government has celebrated milestones like Captain Abhilasha Barak becoming the first woman combat aviator in 2022 and Adaso Kapesa becoming the first woman officer in the Special Protection Group (SPG). The Navy appointed its first woman commanding officer on a naval ship in 2023. The Air Force has modernized facilities and launched DISHA cells to encourage women's participation. The Army inducted 83 women jawans into the Military Police Corps for the first time, enhancing their role in security operations. PM Modi has emphasized women's empowerment in the armed forces during speeches, such as on Navy Day 2023 in Sindhudurg and Diwali 2022 in Kargil, highlighting that women's induction boosts India's strength.
To cut to the chase, contrary to popular perception, the BJP is a highly progressive and modern organization where meritocracy rules the roost. As the National Spokesperson of the BJP—and even much before I got into that role—I always found the BJP top brass to be very gender sensitive. No one till this day from the BJP has ever told me what to eat, what to wear, or how to conduct myself in public life. Better still, no one has even bothered to ask me what my sartorial preferences are or what cuisine I prefer, and that is exactly how it should be.
Despite coming from a family of bankers and investment bankers, I have never felt like an outsider and have completely blended into the BJP's political and cultural milieu. That women are discriminated against or treated as a lesser species within the BJP is something you will find only in the utterly biased and trashy op-ed columns of The Washington Post or The New York Times, written by some junior, Leftist, Modi-hating editor.
From defining the nation's first menstrual hygiene protocol, amending the Medical Termination Pregnancy Act of 1971, giving women reproductive rights over their bodies and increasing the foetal gestation period from 20 to 24 weeks, welcoming more women recruits in the NCC—which is being extended to border and coastal areas—to criminalizing the inhuman and unconstitutional practice of instant triple talaq and the bold decision to increase marriageable age from 18 to 21 years for women, the Modi government has truly exhibited a fearless, women-friendly approach that is both mature and modern, and something which no other government in post-Independent India can dare boast of.
Banning commercial surrogacy, which had led to the mushrooming of illegal IVF and surrogacy clinics, was yet another bold move by the Modi government. Over 55% of beneficiaries under the PMJDY scheme are women. In the last 11 years, over 85 million—that is, over 8.5 crore women working in SHGs—have been provided with funds of over Rs 5.5 lakh crore. PM Modi's concept of Lakhpati Didis is redefining the very concept of wealth creation. Among the many services provided by Mahila-E-Haat are facilitating direct contact between vendors and buyers, and it is open to all Indian women above the age of 18.
The Modi government's Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative is so much more than just a mission statement, best exemplified by the surge in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) in Haryana from 871 in 2015 to over 914 now, with districts like Panipat and Yamunanagar reporting SRB of 945 and 943 for every 1,000 males. The increase in overall sex ratio is a combination of increased life expectancy of women and improvement in the sex ratio at birth or the number of female births for every 1,000 male births. The overall sex ratio today stands at over 1,020 females for every 1,000 males (NFHS-5 data), with the number of females exceeding the number of males for the first time ever. That again is a good sign.
Most importantly, India's 15th President, Droupadi Murmu, is the embodiment of how 'naari shakti' in Modi's India is essentially about the ability to dream, the willingness to work hard, and the determination to succeed, unwaveringly and undeterred. That Murmu is also the first tribal leader who is now India's First Citizen, as India celebrates 'Amrit Kaal', makes her achievements even more notable. Suffice to conclude that in Modi's India, a Santhali woman from a remote village in Mayurbhanj district in Odisha is today the proud occupant of Raisina Hill. That inspiring journey of Droupadi Murmu is also an ode to the farsightedness and astute vision of PM Modi, who remains one of the most popular and powerful leaders globally, and for good reason.
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There is a famous quote by Samantha Shannon: 'No woman should ever be made to fear that she was not enough." Well, suffice to say, in Modi's New India, there is no limit to what we as women can accomplish. The world is our oyster. And we are just getting started.
Sanju Verma is an Economist, National Spokesperson for BJP and Bestselling Author of 'The Modi Gambit'. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views.
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First Published:
August 15, 2025, 15:26 IST
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