Gandhinagar: More than 10,000 women from Gujarat associated with the BJP Mahila Morcha and various organisations will send rakhis and postcards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of Raksha Bandhan, state BJP Mahila Morcha president Anju Vekaria said on Friday.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP state office, Vekaria said the women would send the rakhis as a “thread of protection” along with postcards as an expression of their affection, trust and emotional attachment towards PM Modi.
Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated across the country on August 28.
She said women from Gujarat had been sending rakhis and postcards to PM Modi every year, expressing their wishes for his good health, long life and continued strength to work in national interest.
“PM Modi had made women’s safety, dignity and empowerment a focus through policies, legislation, participation and government schemes. From his tenure as Gujarat chief minister to his tenure as Prime Minister, he had sought to view women not merely as beneficiaries of government schemes but as partners in development and leadership,” she said.
She cited 33 per cent reservation for women in various categories of government jobs in Gujarat and 50 per cent reservation of seats in local self-government elections as measures that had helped ensure women’s participation.
“Women are now serving in various government departments and as elected representatives,” she emphasised.
Vekaria also referred to the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana and Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao.
“These initiatives had addressed issues including access to clean cooking fuel, sanitation, housing ownership, savings for girls and their education and welfare,” she said.
She further said Sakhi Mandals and self-help groups had connected lakhs of women with self-employment and sources of income.
The Lakhpati Didi initiative, she said, is aimed at strengthening women’s economic independence, while Namo Drone Didi is providing rural women opportunities to work with modern technology and new businesses.
On political representation, Vekaria said: “The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam had been passed by both Houses of Parliament in 2023 to provide 33 per cent representation to women in the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies, subject to its implementation conditions.”
She alleged that Opposition parties had not allowed a recently introduced Bill to be passed that would have allowed women to benefit from 33 per cent representation in the Lok Sabha from the 2029 general election.
“Congress only talks about empowering women and does not genuinely want to make women partners in building the country’s future,” she alleged.
Vekaria also said PM Modi believed that women, who constitute half of the country’s population, had an equally important role in national policy-making.
(IANS)
