Bhubaneswar: In a bid to make women digitally empowered, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday said the state will provide free smartphones to all women self-help groups under Mission Shakti.
Addressing a seminar on women entrepreneurship at Make in Odisha Conclave here, Naveen said, “Women in Odisha have come a long way. The next ceiling to be broken is the digital one. My government is aware that digital empowerment will further accelerate the socio-political and economic empowerment of women.”
“My dream is to see that every woman has access to the knowledge economy. As a first step, my government will digitally empower all the six lakh Mission Shakti groups with a smart phone,” he said.
Stating that women empowerment was something “very close” to his heart, the Chief Minister said he was happy that the second edition of the Make in Odisha conclave had focused on women entrepreneurs.
“No household, no society, no state and no country has ever moved forward without empowering its women. From the day I assumed office in 2000, my government has been conscious of the role women can play in socio-economic sectors,” he said.
Patnaik said he started Mission Shakti project in 2001, which has transformed into a movement with 70 lakh women, 6 lakh groups, generating a savings of `5,000 crore and providing an annual bank exposure of `2,000 crore.
“There is no habitation in Odisha without a Mission Shakti group. Almost every second household has a member in Mission Shakti. We have had the highest drop in maternal mortality rate. Our infant mortality rate is better than the national average. Our institutional delivery is a record 90 per cent,” he said.
Ownership of property by women is one of the highest in the country. Above all, one of the most satisfying things for me, personally, is that we could add 10 years to the average life expectancy of every woman born in Odisha”.
“Some years ago, a collector of a tribal district told me that banks compete with each other to finance Mission Shakti groups. The repayment is more than 95 per cent unlike many others. My government honours their sincerity by providing SHGs loans at one per cent – the Mission Shakti loans,” he further pointed out urging the bankers to meet the credit requirement of Mission Shakti groups in a professional manner.
“Biju Babu was a pioneer who made 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies while his government has increased it to 50 per cent and it’s heartening to note that it is much more than 50 per cent,” he said.
Stating how his government has accorded priority to women, Patnaik said, “Whenever my government has made an initiative – whether Mamata or Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana or the Land Rights, the state always runs the extra mile for women,” he claimed.
“As a government we do so many things — institutions, buildings, bridges. Let me confess that whenever we have done anything for women, it has had the maximum impact for the state and has given me the greatest personal satisfaction,” he added.