Bhubaneswar: With the implementation of various activities including Mission Shakti for women empowerment, the rural women in Odisha are now increasingly becoming a major contributor to the state’s growing economy, said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here, Saturday.
Naveen said this while launching the first FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO) Odisha Women’s Awards instituted to acknowledge contributions of the women achievers of Odisha.
Remembering Biju Babu, he said, “Biju Babu, all through his life, championed the cause of women empowerment in India. In Odisha, he reposed faith in women to run Panchayati Raj Institutions. He envisioned women leaders in every sphere of society. Today we are much ahead in women empowerment.”
In fact, the empowerment model for women in the state is one amongst the best in the country, he said.
Stating that his government has always been a champion of the cause of women empowerment, the Chief Minister said, “Mission Shakti, one of the key initiatives of our empowerment model, has successfully brought over eight million women from the four walls of family to socio-economic vibrancy.”
With the launching of the initiatives like Make-in-Odisha, Start-Up Odisha and Skilled-in-Odisha, more and more women in Odisha are coming to entrepreneurship, he said, adding, “Our women have also been achieving great feats in national and international sports.”
Moreover, he said, Odisha became the first state in the country to walk the talk and made a resolution in the State Assembly to allocate 33 per cent of seats in Parliament and the State Assemblies, last year.
Since 2011, Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the state are represented by over 50 per cent women, he further stated.
Patnaik assured that his government would continue to ensure women in Odisha have the best possible supporting policies and programmes to be successful in the various sectors.
National president of FLO Janhavi Phookan and state president Dharitri Patnaik also spoke on the occasion.