Modi govt focuses on education and empowerment for week-long International Women’s Day celebration

Union Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani took to Twitter to announce the start of a week-long celebration for International Women’s Day. 

Smriti Irani tweeted, “Starting today, each day will be celebrated with special focus on one area where Indian girls or women are excelling and contributing to women-led development of New India.”

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The celebrations focus on empowering women through education. The Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign, which was launched in January 2015, is one of the Narendra Modi-led government’s flagship campaigns. 

Highlighting key achievements of the five-year-long campaign, Smriti shared that more than six lakh girls from disadvantaged groups were enrolled across 4,881 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and that the National Schemes of Incentives to Girls for Secondary Education had sanctioned Rs 8.56 crore, benefiting more than 28,000 girls across India.

The Modi-led government will continue to promote the campaign as it works to make the 2020 decade the “decade of Indian Women”. 

From celebrating women achievers to encouraging the path of leadership at a young age, International Women’s Day initiatives have started gaining traction on Twitter. 

Recognising women achievers

Indian women are pioneering in various fields, and it is important to encourage them to pursue their passion. According to a study co-authored by MIT economist Esther Duflo, female leaders go a long way in shaping the attitudes and ambitions of younger women.

Ahead of International Women’s Day, the government has announced that it was establishing University Grants Commissions (UGC) chairs in the name of women achievers across different fields. The government shared 10 names, including poet and musician Lal Bed, freedom fighter Rani Gaidinliu, educational reformer Hansa Mehta, and performing artist  MS Subbulakshmi, among others.

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Encouraging women in STEM

Women in India are also taking their place as leaders in areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). President of Nasscom Debjani Ghosh and Intel India Head Nivruti Rai are among the names that come to mind immediately. 

The government aims to encourage more women to pursue careers in these areas by offering more opportunities. Apart from setting up 16 universities across 13 states exclusively for women, the government said women pursuing MPhil or PhD can avail maternity or child care leave up to 240 days a year. 

Relocation of women scholars due to marriage or other reasons has also been made easier with the UGC granting relaxation period of one year for MPhil candidates and two years for PhD candidates.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has also launched the Udaan scheme, making resources to prepare for admission to premier institutes available online for free.

Provisions under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

The government has introduced special interventions under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, which was launched in May 2018 to address gaps in education from pre-school to senior secondary levels.

Some of the current introductions include sensitising teachers on the importance of promoting equal participation from girls. The government will provide free textbooks and uniforms to girl students up to Class eight. Schools will conduct self-defence training for girls and have gender-segregated toilets.

Teachers who travel from remote and hilly areas will be given residential quarters. The Modi-led government shared that women’s participation in education has also increased over the years, as students and teachers.

Attending school may not be the only means to enabling and empowering girls and women.

In an effort to inculcate leadership confidence among girls, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has mandated that schools should designate a girl as monitor for at least six months a year or more.

Promoting a “new India for Nari Shakti”, the Modi-led government promised that women would have a say on the Narendra Modi app.  

Education, it is clear, is the foremost way of empowering an individual and groups. In the words of American historian and President of Harvard University Drew Faust,

“We educate women because it is smart. We educate women because it changes the world.”

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)