Union Minister Smriti Irani Bats For Technological Advancement Of Women at Davos
The Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani said that we need to decide on whether we reduce women to only consumption of technology or do we want them to become leaders of technological institutions and technological enterprise. Irani was speaking at a session on ‘Gender Parity for Economic Recovery’ at the World Economic Forum 2023 at Davos.
The Panelists included Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani, the Nigerian Finance Minister Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Executive Director of Oxfam Gabriela Bucher and President of Inter-American Development Bank Ilan Goldfajn.
Sharing the steps taken by the Narendra Modi government in India to bring gender equality, Irani said that it is important to recognise that there will never be a one-size-fits-all solution. “For any nation to develop, women need to be at the helm of affairs. We even have a union finance minister who is a woman,” said Irani. She further added, “We have differentiated national potentials and national responsibilities.”
The Union Minister and BJP MP from Amethi in UP also spoke about how technology can be a great enabler for everyone, irrespective of gender. "We are looking at the age of automation. The language of automation is English. India has 16,000 dialects, 125 languages which are constitutionally recognised. If you want to empower the agency of women technologically, do we have the information in my native language? It is not only a solution we are seeking for gender justice, I think it also has great financial potential for many companies," she said.
Talking about digital transformation, she said it need not be limited to fiscal corporations, to building enterprise, it can have a cumulative effect on various segments. Further talking about several government schemes like Ayushman Bharat for health and Education Policy, she said India is working towards gender equality. “Through Ayushman Bharat, we have seen focus on issues like cervical cancer which affect women. Governance has atleast delivered on health aspects in india. For Education too, the impact of dialogues between government and citizens is that for the first time ever India now has a gender inclusion fund in our education policy to help build academic infrastructure,” said Irani.
Talking about letting women innovate in enterprise, she said, “Today 42 per cent of stem graduates in India are women. How do I encourage them to innovate to enterprise ?
Do we reduce women to only consumption of technology or do we want them to become leaders of technological institutions or technological enterprise? So i think the G20 gives us a unique opportunity to speak about our experiences.”
