Women should become effective as people's representatives: PM Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: Women should empower themselves technologically and become effective as people's representatives as mere changes in the system would not suffice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today but remained silent on the women's reservation bill for which the President and the Vice President had made a strong pitch yesterday.

Insisting that "mere change in system" would not suffice, he said "some changes in structure keep on happening" and stressed the need for women leaders to empower themselves technologically and make effective interventions.

"You will have to make yourself effective. You will have to present issues with facts and figures. Merely changes in the system will not suffice. Some or the other change keep happening in the structure...In order to establish your leadership, you should have the knowledge of subjects.

"...Try to develop your independent image as a public representative. Make an attempt that you have your own image in your region. Once the image of your working style and your views is established among people, it will last for long. You will see people accepting your ideas once you are thus established," Modi said at the National Conference of Women Legislators here.

The Prime Minister said "we must think beyond women's development" and move towards "women-led development."

Inaugurating the conference yesterday, President Pranab Mukherjee pitched for 33 per cent reservation for women in elected bodies saying it was a "sad commentary" that so far the country has not been able to achieve over 12 per cent representation for women in Parliament's total membership.

Vice President Hamid Ansari had also asked parties to voluntarily increase the nomination of women candidates in elections till the legislation is enacted.

However, the Prime Minister today skipped any mention about the bill but focussed on larger issues of attitudinal change and the need for women promoting women leadership in different spheres.

In his speech, he called upon women leaders to groom female leadership down the rung, overcoming "jealousy" due to competition.

"Politics is a game of competition but ... when the feeling of jealousy dominates in competition, then you cannot grow. If you start feeling that what will happen to you if more talented women come in your field, or if your attempt is that I am there and will not allow anybody else to progress.

"Rather if you allow others to come up, you will go high. A kind of pyramid-like structure comes up then," the Prime Minister said.