Bhubaneswar: BJD Supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said his party will continue to fight for women’s rights from the village to the Parliament.
Addressing the state executive committee of BJD’s women wing here, Shri Patnaik said women are empowered at the grassroots level and they are less visible at the State and national levels.
“BJD will fight for women’s rights from villages to Parliament … We must raise our voice for one third reservation for women in Parliament and assembly,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that women are demanding equal credit as men in the development of Odisha. They are doing excellent work in all fields and therefore the State Government has made provisions for their empowerment, he said.
Women empowerment, he said, is something very close to his heart. It was not just a slogan for BJD, but a formula for development.
“I have all along said that no society, State or Nation can develop without empowerment of women,” he said.
Now women are taking leadership roles in villages and are actively involved in the development of the panchayats. Mission Shakti has become the power centre of women. Be it paddy procurement, management of Aahar Centres in cities, electricity meter reading, or Jal Saathi, or watch and ward of schools transformed under 5T, women are effectively discharging their responsibilities, he said.
Women are in the forefront in all good work be it fish farming in village ponds, or renovation of water bodies in urban areas, he said. Mission Shakti Cafe is now giving a message of nutrition to the entire state, he added.
“You are all aware of our good work. Take the message of development, of empowerment to people, to every household in every village, and every town. The story of Biju Janata Dal is the story of transformation of Odisha. Be with people, serve the people and be an agent of transformation of our great state,” the BJD President said.
He made this statement two days after asking his party MPs to raise the issue of the Women Reservation Bill in Parliament.
To ensure 33 per cent reservation for women BJD had fielded women candidates for seven out of the total 21 parliamentary seats in the State during the last general election in 2019. Five of them had won the election that year.
The Chief Minister said that the State Cabinet on Friday approved a proposal for providing interest free loans up to Rs one lakh for women self-help group leaders to purchase scooters.
He said that a Rs 11,000 crore loan has been disbursed to women in the state during last year, Shri Patnaik said. He urged the BJD women to remain connected with people, serve them and be an agent of transformation of the state.