Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the maximum number of women in his cabinet. I am the representative of a party which has a maximum number of females in the parliament.” This was stated by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani during meet the press program held today at Taj Westend in Bangalore. While replying to a question asked regarding Irani’s recent remark about woman MP as a lady. Irani aggressively said that should I feel regret calling a lady a lady? She said, “Why a woman member of Parliament cannot be addressed as a lady. I would insist on calling ladies with respect and that is the reflection of a gender bias.” She further said that if India needs to be strengthened as a nation, we need to ensure women lead development.
Irani talked in detail about the women's welfare policies recently initiated by the central government, aaganbadi centers, and Asha workers with child welfare work done by the government. She spoke about 18 ministries across the Government of India’s project ‘Mission Poshan 2.0’ where 14 lakh aaganbaris in the country will be strengthened. Aaganbaris will be equipped with smart devices and growth monitoring devices. Irani mentioned the one-stop crisis management centers Aparajita for women in distress and victims of violence. She informed that 704 one-stop centers are functioning currently in India. Over 70 lakh distressed women have got support under this intervention. 8 crore women through 70 lakh Self Help Groups have received over 4 lakh 80 thousand crores support from the Government of India, she added. Also presented on the occasion was the state minister for Dept. of Women and Child Welfare, Government of Karnataka Sh. Halappa Basappa Achar.