My heart swells with pride as I join you today
to be a part of this concluding ceremony to mark the completion of this ceremonial
event. Often, while tracing the history of a nation's journey, we come
across watershed moments which alter the course of the flow of events.
Mahatma Gandhi's celebrated Dandi March marks one such defining milestone which
stands out as an iconic example of his non-violent call for Civil
Disobedience against British rule. As we celebrate our achievements
and prepare for the challenges in our development journey, the message
of iconic leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
and Sardar Patel provides us the inspiration to work together to build
an India we all are dreaming of.120 It is an India which our freedom fighters and Constitution makers had
dreamt of; it is an India which has140 been built
by successive governments. It is a healthy, literate, educated,
self-reliant India; it is an India that celebrates its160 rich diverse cultural heritage; it is
an India that is strong but non-violent; it is an India that shares its prosperity
with other nations. It is a nation that cherishes constitutional values and
nurtures its democratic roots.
Embedded in our constitutional values is
a deep commitment to the development and welfare of our people. Gaining freedom
from foreign rule was a great moment in our history. It is even
more remarkable that we could achieve it with non-violent means. The240 Dandi March we are symbolically revisiting
today signifies our nation’s ability to stay united when we are faced
with challenges. It is that ability to walk together on the path of
development that has yielded so many positive outcomes. We280 must continue on this path, taking one confident step after another,
one competent measure after another and one collaborative action after
another. This should be the guiding force as we intensify our efforts or
the churning that produces the elixir320 and ensure that the drops from this elixir reach everyone in our
country.
The coronavirus pandemic proved to be
a test of our resilience, spirit of enterprise and innovation. From
manufacturing PPE kits to surgical gloves, masks and sanitizers, to360 ventilators and vaccines, our researchers,
scientists, entrepreneurs and industrialists shaped Prime
Minister’s vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat into reality. It is with this
spirit that we must move forward. India, while conducting the largest
vaccination drive in the world, is also supplying vaccines to a number
of countries across the world. That is the vision we have to translate
into420 reality, into a sacred mission through hard work and dedication.
Sisters and brothers,
from being shunted and limited to the margins of the economy, women everywhere
are finding their rightful place today at the centre-stage of our
socio-economic life in workplaces, politics, and education. The inherent
benefits of having substantial female representation in industry are
becoming increasingly evident to businesses480 too, as they reach out to harness women’s
unexplored potential in our economy. Companies today have a deeper insight into
the long-term benefits of an inclusive work culture. We must identify the
issues that are stopping our women in realizing their full potential as growth
leaders and powering our economy forward. We will be able to empower
women only by deconstructing what is hindering them at our workplaces. We
can gain a better understanding by studying this problem from the560 prism of Representation,
Remuneration and Roles.
Speaking of representation, we often gloss over the fact
that we have an important demographic dividend we can unlock. Our female
labour force participation rate is around 20 per cent and has not
kept600 pace with
our accelerating economy over the years. The pandemic has further
deepened employment inequalities between genders. We need to work on this. I
call upon the industry to draw the best out of this huge
talent pool. Women-led industrial640 workforce can drive growth at a rapid pace. It is,
therefore, important that we unlock our ‘gender dividend’. Remuneration remains
a pertinent issue for women in the workplace. Equal pay for equal work
continues to be a basic demand that is still unfulfilled even in the
most developed countries and in the highest strata of the corporate
world. The World700 Economic Forum’s
Global Gender Gap Report 2020 refers to a pay disparity of around 15 per
cent even in advanced720 economies and points
out that no country has achieved gender parity in wages yet. India needs
to lead the way in this regard. Thirdly, we need to correct
the issue of ‘roles’ played by women at work if we want them to be
our growth leaders. It is well known that women are under-represented in
the formal sector, compared to the informal sector. Even in the formal
sector, the issue of breaking barriers does not stop at the lowest rungs; 800 the glass-ceiling
stretches to the very top.
Women Chief Executive Officers and board members are
few and far between. Even in the Fortune 500 companies, there are just about
35 women Chief Executive Officers. It is heartening to see many840 successful women entrepreneurs
and professionals in this forum, which in itself is an important marker of
women’s empowerment. India has also shown the way to the developed world
by bringing in the Maternity Benefits Act in 2017. Significantly, this progressive
legislation increased paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks
and has helped mitigate the gender pay gap that is found in working women who
go through motherhood and child care. Another key point worth mentioning
is that women today, more than ever before, have gone against the grain of male-dominated
societies and cultures. Year after year, confident, courageous,
intelligent and heroic women from all over the country make a
mark with their accomplishments in diverse fields. I often960 point out that in any
convocation ceremony I attend, I find more girl medalists than boys.
This is indeed a980 welcome trend.
As per a report on Women in Business 2021, India ranks
third in the world for women working in senior management positions. The same
report states that the percentage of women in senior management for India stood
at 39 per cent, against the global average of 31 per cent, which signals the
changing outlook of Indian businesses towards working women. All these are
positive tidings for Indian economy in the years to come. Going forward,
we must adopt a holistic and comprehensive strategy to enable women to
become our growth leaders. Firstly, we must educate our girl children1080 on parity with our
boys. Girls in school are performing better than boys, but there is a gap in
their enrolment in higher education. The pandemic has also had a disproportionate
impact on girl child’s education. We need to correct1120 these disparities in a mission mode. Secondly, we
must enlighten our girls and women on what rightfully is due to them from their
family, community and the government. They should have the
confidence to demand all the entitlements and an equal stake in our
society.
Lastly, both the above
steps will help in empowering women. We need to empower them politically,
economically and socially. Politically, we need to introduce adequate
reservations for women in state legislatures and the Parliament. 1200 Economically, we have
to enable women to start businesses and cooperatives through schemes like Stand
Up India. Socially, we need to ensure that women do not face any kind of
harassment or discrimination and stringent action should
be taken against those committing atrocities against women. Educate,
Enlighten and Empower- this should be the mantra for us to let women
lead1260 our country
to its rightful place.
Fighting the COVID pandemic is not just about
waiting for the curve of this1280 wave to get flattened.
It is about inculcating the behaviours of ‘new normal’, to invest in
health infrastructure, to practice healthy habits and be ever-prepared and
ever-vigilant to combat any major health crisis. Today, in the midst of a
massive outbreak, all the resources of the country and beyond are being
aggregated. I am pleased to see that the industry has once again risen
to the occasion. There have been instances where industries have
provided free oxygen to hospitals. The Government of India has opened up
vaccination. Companies should utilize this opportunity to organize vaccination
for their employees and their families, and ensure no one is left behind.
Once again, I am very happy to join you today. I
convey my1400 compliments to the organisers for conducting this event
despite the challenging circumstances. Clearly, India’s future is tied to its
women’s future. India looks up to its corporate sector to realize this
potential. May you have all the strength and1440 good fortune in the coming years to bring this
change.
