Shimla, April 19 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Congress and the INDIA bloc over the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, asserting that the proposed legislation represented not just a policy initiative but the core ideological conviction of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of women-led development.

Singh told the media here that since 2014, the Modi government has fundamentally shifted the paradigm of governance by placing women at the centre of policy design and implementation. “Women are no longer passive beneficiaries; they are active architects of India’s development journey,” he said, adding this transformation reflected a deliberate and sustained policy approach.

Recalling Prime Minister Modi’s Independence Day address in 2014, he noted that the emphasis on building toilets, particularly for women, marked a defining moment in governance priorities.

“What appeared unconventional at the time has today translated into dignity, safety and improved health outcomes for millions of women,” he said, highlighting the impact of the Swachh Bharat Mission on sanitation and girls’ education.

He further underlined the transformative impact of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, stating that it liberated women from hazardous indoor pollution, improved their health indicators and enabled economic participation. “This is not incremental change; this is structural transformation at the grassroots,” he remarked.

The Union minister emphasised that India “always possessed immense untapped women’s potential, but lacked enabling frameworks”. “Over the last decade, the Modi government has unlocked that potential, evident in the rising number of women in civil services, STEM education, research and even frontline combat roles in the armed forces,” he said.

“India’s women have moved from the margins to the mainstream, and now to leadership.” On the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, he said the legislation was designed to institutionalise women’s participation in governance and decision-making.

“At a time when the nation was ready for this historic leap, the opposition chose obstruction over cooperation,” he said, accusing the Congress and its allies of placing political calculations above women’s empowerment.

He described the Opposition’s stance as a “historic betrayal”, noting that while the Congress had invoked women’s reservation for over 50 years, it consistently failed to implement it.

“When a credible, constitutionally viable and well-researched framework was presented, they resorted to procedural excuses and diversionary arguments. This exposes their lack of intent,” he added.

–IANS

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