- President Droupadi Murmu emphasized that the involvement of women is very important for India
- Murmu stated the remarks at the centenary celebrations of St. Teresa's College
- Murmu wrote that women-led societies will be more humane and more efficient
President Droupadi Murmu on Friday stressed that the active engagement of women is key to making India take the demographic dividend and realizing the vision of Viksit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047.
Addressing the centenary celebrations of St. Teresa's College, she further stated that woman-led societies tend to be humane as well as efficient.
Emphasizing achievements in a decade, Murmu added that Gender Budget allocations have grown 4.5 times and the number of women-led MSMEs almost doubled between the years 2011 and 2024.
She added that achieving 70 percent women workforce participation is one of the fundamental pillars for the realization of a developed India vision and acknowledged the role played by women from different socio-economic segments in propelling the country forward.
The President referred to the fact that Kerala enjoys the country's most positive gender ratio, which can be followed by other states.
She noted women from Kerala who made major contributions to the construction of the nation, such as Ammu Swaminathan, Annie Mascarene, and Dakshayani Velayudhan, who had an impact on deliberations regarding basic rights, social justice, and women's equality in the Constituent Assembly.
Murmu also pointed to milestone accomplishments by women in the judiciary, noting Justice Anna Chandy, India's first woman High Court judge, and Justice M. Fathima Beevi, its first woman Supreme Court judge in 1989.
To the students of St. Teresa's College, she called them representatives of a young, lively, and thriving India.
She commended the contributions of the college alumni towards the growth of the country and recognized the efforts of the institution's community programs, praising their selfless labor in flood relief efforts and for catering to the underprivileged.
The President also appreciated the college's SLATE initiative, encouraging Sustainability, Leadership, and Agency through Education, aligning with the agenda of the National Education Policy 2020 and India's Sustainable Development Goals, equipping students to work in the future.
She appreciated that programs like Radio Kochi 90 FM, encouraging the participation of the people at the local level, are admirable.
Murmu urged students to make life decisions with clarity and guts, chasing opportunities that enable them to voice their interests and strengths.
She reasserted that women-led societies are bound to be more efficient and humane, and hoped that students would show the difference that women-led development has made in their work in the future.
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