Bhubaneswar: Launching today the first FLO Odisha Women’s Awards instituted to acknowledge and award the women achievers of the State, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik not only congratulated all the awardees, but also reiterated that the women empowerment model of the State Government is the best in the country.
Addressing the FICCI-FLO Odisha Award Ceremony, Naveen said, “In fact, the empowerment model for women in the State is one amongst the best in the country.”
“My Government has always been a champion of the cause of women empowerment,” the Chief Minister averred.
Dubbing the awardees as the ‘role models’ for many young women of Odisha and their work a ‘source of inspiration’ for them, he remembered Biju Babu whose birth anniversary was celebrated yesterday.
Naveen said, “In Odisha, he (Biju Babu) reposed faith on women to run Panchayati Raj Institutions. He envisioned women leaders in every sphere of society. Today we are much ahead in women empowerment.”
He added, “Mission Shakti, one of the key initiatives of our empowerment model, has successfully brought over eight million women from the four walls of family to socio-economic vibrancy. The rural women in Odisha are now increasingly becoming a major contributor to our growing economy.”
Stating that the initiatives like Make-in-Odisha, Start-Up Odisha and Skilled-in-Odisha have inspired more and more women to entrepreneurship, the Chief Minister further stated, “Our women have also been achieving great feats in national and international sports.”
“We became the first state in the country to walk the talk and resolved in State Assembly to allocate 33 percent of seats in the Parliament and State Legislative Assembly last year,” mentioned Naveen adding, “Since 2011, Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies in State are represented by over 50 percent women.”
The Odisha Chief Minister thanked the FICCI-FLO for its endeavour to encourage and facilitate women to showcase their talents, skills and energy at the grassroots, middle and senior levels for an inclusive economic growth trajectory.
He also congratulated Bhubaneswar FLO chairperson Dharitri Patnaik and her team for the efforts in women empowerment.
Expressing his immense pleasure for releasing the Policy Brief on Women Entrepreneurship in Odisha, the Chief Minister assured them all that his Government will continue to ensure women in Odisha have the best possible supporting policies and programmes to be successful in the various sectors.
FICCI-FLO national president Janhavi Phookan and its state president Dharitri Patnaik also spoke on the occasion.