5 days ago
Women are both driving, shaping India's economic growth: PM Modi
New Delhi: Women are both driving and shaping India's economic growth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday while delivering his Independence Day address at the Red Fort. Modi also pointed to the rising participation of women through self-help groups (SHGs) and the government's flagship Namo Drone Didi scheme. (REUTERS)
'The women are the beneficiaries of our progressing economy, and they are also the contributors to it. From Startups to space, our daughters are contributing everywhere. They are excelling in sports and shining in the military. Women are proudly walking shoulder-to-shoulder in the progress of the country's economy,' PM Modi said.
Highlighting the 148th National Defence Academy (NDA) passing out parade, which saw the graduation of its first-ever batch of female cadets. 'The whole country was proud to see female cadets participating in the NDA passing out parade,' he said.
Modi also pointed to the rising participation of women through self-help groups (SHGs) and the government's flagship Namo Drone Didi scheme. '100 million SHG sisters are doing wonders. Namo Drone Didi has become a new identity for women's empowerment,' he added.
'We have set a target to make 30 million Lakhpati Didis. I believe we will reach the target before time. Already, 20 million women became Lakhpati Didis,' he said.
Over the years, PM Modi has addressed women-centric issues — Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, women's safety, and access to toilets — during his Independence Day speeches. In 2014, he addressed the issue of rape, urging parents to impose the same discipline on sons as they do on daughters. He also highlighted the link between sanitation and women's dignity. 'Is it not a shame that our mothers and sisters have to defecate in the open?' he had asked, adding that it was not just a sanitation problem, but a matter of ensuring women's dignity and security.
By 2016, his message expanded to social reform and equal opportunity for women to contribute to the nation's growth. In recent years, including 2024, the emphasis shifted to women's achievements in defence, entrepreneurship, and other sectors, underlining the transformative 'strength of Nari Shakti.'
