New Delhi: The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has hailed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, passed in the Rajya Sabha the other day, and said that it was aimed at securing gender rights and justice to women.
The Vice President said that the passing of the Bill was a great moment in India’s legislative history. “It is a major social reform bill that will go a long way in ensuring justice to Muslim women”, he added.
Speaking at the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of Janki Devi Memorial College in New Delhi, Naidu said this was long overdue for a country that has taken great pride in its deep-rooted principles of democracy, secularism and equality.
The Vice President stressed that investing in women’s capabilities and empowering them were important for propelling economic growth and overall development. He observed that women’s education has been found to have a more significant effect on lowering poverty and promotion of sustainable development.
Pointing out that women’s literacy was more than just about economic opportunities, the Vice President said that increasing knowledge and awareness among women would have a huge, positive impact on the society.
Naidu said that a country like India could not neglect the importance of education and the empowerment of the women, especially when it was aspiring to be a 5 trillion-dollar economy and striving to acquire a position of leadership in the world.
Quoting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Report, Naidu said that raising women’s labour force participation to that of men could boost GDP by as much as 27 percent in India. “If 50% of skilled women could join the workforce, India can scale its growth by 1.5 percentage points to 9% a year. India needs its women to contribute to the workforce,” he added.
Opining that empowerment of women would enable them to respond to the challenges, improve their status within the family and participate in the decision making, the Vice President said that a happy family and a healthy and robust society could not be sustained without the active participation of women.
