Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla underscored the need to ensure sustainable economic empowerment frameworks for women as the first national conference of Parliamentary and Legislative committees on women empowerment concluded in Tirupati in the state of Andhra Pradesh by adopting the ‘Tirupati Resolution’.
Speaking on the occasion of the historic parliamentary conference on women's empowerment in a valedictory function, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha emphasised that empowerment of women is a social necessity as well as an economic imperative. Through an investment in women’s health and education, skills and entrepreneurship, it is possible to unlock an infinite pool of human capital and create a robust socio-economic paradigm of growth, he added.
The contributions and leadership of women are paramount in steering India towards Viksit Bharat by 2047, as stressed by Birla. The conference is a forum in which parliamentarians by their experiences at the centre and in the states, come together and share ideas, he added. Governor S. Abdul Nazeer addressed the valedictory.
On the occasion of the International Day of Democracy, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha highlighted the fact that democracy in India is not a political system but a civilizational value and a way of life. His opinion is that India, the Mother of Democracy, has sustained the values of equality, dialogue and participation over centuries, and democracy is embedded in the cultural and social DNA of the nation.
Birla emphasised the point that the empowerment of women cannot be considered solely as a welfare issue or in isolation from other domains of national development endeavours. His references to the exemplary role of reformers such as Savitribai Phule in proposing women’s liberation through education and the Maharashtra schools educating adult women in villages towards 100 percent literacy are attempts to illustrate the points. Efforts of such kinds, in his opinion, are always an inspiration to present-day policy.
Stressing women’s achievements from rural and deprived backgrounds, the Speaker asserted that their achievements in education, entrepreneurship and social leadership are proof of how opportunity, if extended, delivers transformational outcomes. The Speaker called for an extra push to expand these opportunities to all conceivable areas of society so that women become active equal partners in India’s march ahead.
The Speaker highlighted how Gender Responsive Budgeting is not merely a budgetary tool but an overarching socio-economic framework putting women’s needs on the mainstream developmental agenda of the nation. It was stressed that budgets are to be social justice instruments and be utilised to ensure equal accessibility to healthcare, education, skills, and livelihoods to women so as to enable them to be active players and leaders in the nation’s developmental trajectory. Utilisation of the gender lens in planning and allocation of resources, he stated, ensures women’s concerns are neither add-ons nor peripherals but are incorporated in the mainstream of planning.
He proposed institutionalising cells on gender budgets in Ministries and State Departments, greater allocation towards women’s health care, education, skills, entrepreneurship and ease of credit accessibility and tracking outcomes through gender-disaggregated data. These steps, he further added, would convert budgeting into a tool of social justice and inclusive growth.
Discussing challenges and opportunities of emergent technologies, Birla further mentioned that women cannot be left on the sidelines in the digital era. Closing the digital divide, ensuring cyber safety, and scaling up digital literacy campaigns are needed to empower women as active technology creators. He called for special digital literacy missions to women in line with earlier adult literacy campaigns in order to achieve inclusive participation in the knowledge economy. The Conference unitedly agreed on the ‘Tirupati Resolution’, creating a clear road map towards enhancing women’s empowerment. The Resolution gave primacy to the application of a gender lens to all Ministries and Departments, enhanced allocation to health, education, skills, and enterprise, institutionalising gender responsive budgeting in all States and at the Centre, and enhanced technical capacity at national and State levels. The Resolution also committed to bridging the digital divide and promoting women’s participation in STEM areas, ensuring cyber safety and digital empowerment of women and girls and making women active technology creators. Reiterating the criticality of women-led development, the Resolution committed to developing women’s education, health, safety, dignity, and self-reliance as the pillars of national growth and achievement of Viksit Bharat by 2047.