Respecting women our tradition: PM

In his first Mann Ki Baat radio address of 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of women’s empowerment and his government’s efforts at making health care affordable. He said the salient feature of India’s society was its cultural legacy of a “self-correction mechanism”, where unending endeavours have taken place against social ills and evil practices, both individually and collectively.

He also remembered Mahatma Gandhi, appealing to people to walk on the path shown by the Father of the Nation, whose martyrdom day is on Tuesday.

In his 40th Mann Ki Baat broadcast, the PM spoke at length about woman power in diverse fields. He paid tributes to astronaut Kalpana Chawla, whose death anniversary is on February 1.

As for the political context, the PM’s reference to woman power comes at a time of the Congress party demanding his government ensure the passage of the long-pending Bill to reserve a third of Parliament and legislative assembly seats for women.

While former Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi had written to Modi on the subject a few months earlier, current chief Rahul Gandhi has also appealed to the PM to ensure its passage. The Budget session of Parliament begins on Monday.

In reference to his government’s slogan of Beti bachao, beti padhao (save and educate the girl child), the PM said respecting women has been a tradition in India. He pointed that Lopamudra, Gargi and Maitreyi contributed verses to the Vedas, and quoted Skanda Purana which said that a daughter is the equivalent of 10 sons.