Patriarchy did not stop Indira Gandhi from becoming PM: Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman engaged with students at CMS Business School, addressing women's empowerment and government initiatives for innovation. She argued against the notion of patriarchy hindering women's progress, citing Indira Gandhi's prime ministership as evidence. Sitharaman highlighted the government's support for MSMEs and digital banking transformation, emphasizing the growth of startups and unicorns in India.

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If patriarchy stopped women from achieving what they want in India, how come Indira Gandhi made it as prime minister, asked Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman . She met the students of CMS Business School here on Saturday and discussed various measures undertaken by the Centre to support innovation as well as the government schemes available for young people, including the 1 crore internships for the 'unemployable youth' in the age group of 21 to 24 years old. US Election 2024 US Election Result Live Updates Swing state results deciding who'll be new POTUS Trump vs Harris: Who’s winning which state? Full list Replying to a question about women empowerment , Sitharaman insisted that patriarchy is a concept invented by the Left.

"Don't get carried away by fantastic jargons. If you stand up for yourself and speak logically, patriarchy will not stop you from achieving your dreams," she advised the women in the audience. However, she admitted that women are not facilitated adequately and that more facilitation is needed.



Answering a question about the prospects of innovators in India, the finance minister said the Modi government is creating an environment that is conducive to innovators. Web Development Intermediate Java Mastery: Method, Collections, and Beyond By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Django & PostgreSQL Mastery: Build Professional Web Applications By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Office Productivity Mastering Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and 365 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance Financial Literacy i.e Lets Crack the Billionaire Code By - CA Rahul Gupta, CA with 10+ years of experience and Accounting Educator View Program Web Development Intermediate C++ Skills: Master Pointers, Structures and File Stream By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development Master RESTful APIs with Python and Django REST Framework: Web API Development By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Strategy ESG and Business Sustainability Strategy By - Vipul Arora, Partner, ESG & Climate Solutions at Sattva Consulting Author I Speaker I Thought Leader View Program Web Development Mastering Full Stack Development: From Frontend to Backend Excellence By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Basics of Generative AI: Unveiling Tomorrow's Innovations By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance Financial Literacy for Non-Finance Executives By - CA Raja, Chartered Accountant | Financial Management Educator | Former AVP - Credit, SBI View Program Data Science SQL Server Bootcamp 2024: Transform from Beginner to Pro By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance AI and Generative AI for Finance By - Hariom Tatsat, Vice President- Quantitative Analytics at Barclays View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Master in Python Language Quickly Using the ChatGPT Open AI By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Web Development A Comprehensive ASP.

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Sitharaman said that 40 per cent of all government procurements is coming from MSMEs. "That is why we have more than 2 lakh startups today in India and more than 130 have become unicorns. The opportunity is immense but is not fully utilised," she said.

It is the same with digital banking transformation that is happening in India, she added. According to her, opportunities were created for the common people through Jan Dhan Yojana. "India's approach to spreading digital networks was funded by the government, while many other countries went through private players, resulting in some nominal charges somewhere.

Because of this, even micro-level users also access digital banking without having to pay for it," Sitharaman said, and added that in the future this will only grow. "Therefore, technology will have to be continuously updated so that we don't become redundant." She also explained the concept of the 'Fund of Funds' offered by the Small Industries Development Bank of India, which is enabled by the Central government by infusing Rs 10,000 crore to help small businesses and innovative ideas needing support.

"Private equity funds are also backing this because we have given them concessions," she added. As for the latest government scheme offering one crore internships to the unemployable, Sitharaman urged the students present to help get the target audience on to the platform so that more youth can become skilled. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel ).