Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that the setting up of the Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd. is a small step towards the economic empowerment of women.
"It is also a reflection of our deep commitment to this cause. I am also sure that it will particularly benefit women from the less privileged sections of our society. The fact that it will be run largely by women will serve as an example that given the opportunity, women are capable of taking on challenging tasks,' he said at the inauguration of Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd. here today.
He also said that the bank will initially have seven branches, which will go up to 25 by March 2014, and will focus equally on rural and urban areas, and added that it will offer special products keeping in view the needs of women entrepreneurs.
"The Bharatiya Mahila Bank will provide financial services predominantly to women and women self-help groups,' he said.
"It is befitting that the Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd. is being inaugurated on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and added that her life and work are an abiding source of inspiration for all," he added.
He also lauded Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his team for conceiving the establishment of the Bank, and making it a reality within a very short period of its announcement in this year's Budget.
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Dr. Singh said that India has produced several accomplished women leaders in a diverse range of areas - science, medicine, business, sports, politics and so on.
"Women played a prominent role in our freedom struggle with leaders like Rani Lakshmibai, Begum Hazrat Mahal and Aruna Asaf Ali leading from the front. We have had a woman as President of our country, and currently have a woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha, a woman Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and two women Chief Ministers," he said.
Referring to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who was also present at the occasion, Dr. Singh said that the president of the largest and the oldest political party in India is also a distinguished woman leader.
"Some of the largest public and private sector banks in our country are today headed by women. A recent global survey of top 50 women business leaders in the world included four Indian women,' he said.
He said that the sad reality is that women in India face discrimination and hardship at home, at school, at their place of work and in public places, and added that their social, economic and political empowerment remains a distant goal.
"The discrimination that our women face is reflected in the indicators of human development. They score below men in literacy, in health status, in employment potential and in entrepreneurial skills. They also lag behind men in ownership of land and assets and in the management of enterprises. Increasing incidents of violence have worsened an already bad situation,' he said.
He said that the Government recognizes its responsibility to work diligently for the empowerment of India's women.
'We also recognize that our efforts in this direction must cover many dimensions. Our flagship programs for rural employment and for universalizing education and health-care provide equal access for both men and women and will help the cause of women empowerment. For example, nearly half of those getting employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment happen to be women,' he said.
"We also have schemes for taking care of the special needs of women. For example, while Janani Suraksha Yojana supports pregnant women and nursing mothers, the Sabla scheme empowers adolescent girls,' he added.
Dr. Singh also said that the Government has embarked on a process of amending laws to make them more gender-sensitive and to enable them to effectively address issues of persistent gender discrimination.
"We have legislated for 30 percent of seats for women in rural and urban local bodies. As many as 15 states have already passed legislation to earmark 50 percent of seats for women at the grassroots level democratic institutions," he said.
He also said that the Government has strengthened the law to provide for harsher punishment for sexual offences against women.
He also said that access to finance and banking not only helps empower women but also broadens the social base of development, thus fostering equitable growth, but added that this is an in which India lags far behind.
"Our women have minimal access to finance and financial products. We need to change this state of affairs to enable our women to contribute to the growth processes of the mainstream economy,' he said.