Varanasi, Sep 23 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that it was due to women power that the Women Reservation Bill was passed in both the houses of Parliament and political parties, which were totally against it previously, were forced to come forward to support it.
Addressing the Nari Shakti Vandan-Abhinandan program in his parliamentary constituency, the PM said, "Women's leadership can be a modern system for the rest of the world, but we are the ones who worship Mother Parvati and Ganga before Mahadev (Lord Shiva)."
He said, "Our Kashi is the birthplace of a'veerangana' (fighter) like Rani Laxmibai. From the fighters like Lakshmi Bai during the freedom struggle to the women scientists who led Mission Chandrayaan, we have proved the power of women leadership in every period."
Citing the example of the Nari Shakti Vandan Act passed by Parliament recently, Modi said, "This bill was pending for three decades. But today, it is due to your power that parties that were earlier totally against it were forced to come in support of it. These political parties are afraid of women's power; therefore, they passed the bill. It is because of your power."
He said, "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam has increased the enthusiasm for Navratri manyfold this time. This law will pave new ways for the development of women in the country. It will increase the presence of women in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas. I congratulate the mothers and daughters for this from the pious land of Kashi."
The PM said that the Nari Shakti Vandan Act has been passed with record votes. "It is due to your blessing that your MP from Kashi got the luck to get it passed," he said.
He said that the Nari Shakti Vandan Act is an act with a broad vision. "We have to create a society where women do not need anyone to move forward. For this, it is necessary to strengthen cultural values along with the law. Therefore, this law has been named the Nari Shakti Vandan Act," he said.
Modi said, "Some people have problems with the word Vandan as well. What will we do if we don't salute our mothers and sisters? These people fail to understand what the meaning of worshipping women is. We have to focus on our target by avoiding such negative thinking. The country will continue to move forward and will continue to take such big decisions."
He said, "In the last nine years, we worked by keeping the lives and dreams of the women at the center. The work that is being done for the mothers and sisters is increasing the power of the country."
The PM said that more than 2.30 lakh women got benefits from the Ujjwala scheme. "Now the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme are getting a subsidy of Rs 400 per cylinder from the government. During the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, 75,000 houses were given to the poor in Varanasi. Most of these houses are in the name of our mothers and sisters," he said.
He said, "You all know that there has been very little tradition of keeping property in the name of women. This had been the tradition, but Modi started the tradition of property in the name of mothers, sisters, and daughters," he said.
Modi said that right from the sports grounds to flying Rafle, the daughters of the country are doing wonders. "When women get equal opportunity, then how much development gets accelerated our Varanasi is witness to it," he said.
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