BJD to fight for women’s rights from village to Parliament: Naveen

Bhubaneswar: The BJD will fight for women's rights from the village to Parliament, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Saturday. Naveen, who heads the BJD, said while women are empowered at the grassroots level, they are less visible at the State and national levels.

''The 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 while addressing the BJD State executive committee meeting here.

The Chief Minister said 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 theirempowerment.

He said women empowerment 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 no society, State or nation can develop without empowerment of women," he said.

Naveen said women have been visible in different fields and are now equal partners in Odisha's progress. They are now taking on leadership roles in villages and panchayats. "Mission Shakti has become the power centre for women ... Efforts are on to take Mission Shakti movement to the next level and transform women self-help group members as entrepreneurs," Naveen said and urged them to take the message of development and empowerment of people to every household in every village and every town.

He made this statement two days after asking his party MPs to raise the issue of Women Reservation Bill in Parliament. To ensure 33 per cent reservation for women, the BJD had fielded women candidates for seven out of the total 21 parliamentary seats in the State during the last general elections in 2019.

Five of them had won the election that year. The Chief Minister said the State Cabinet on Friday approved a proposal for providing interest-free loans up to Rs 1 lakh for women self-help group leaders to purchase scooters.

Naveen said Rs 11,000 crore loan has been disbursed to women in the State during last year. Naveen urged the BJD women to remain connected with people, serve them and be an agent of transformation of the State.