Invest in women as entrepreneurs, says Smriti Irani

Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani on Friday said that when a woman is empowered financially, in terms of measurement of success of the society, it goes up in the human development index. Irani further explained that the success of a nation is measured on the basis of the human development index and not only GDP. 

Speaking at Lucknow, the minister said, "When you empower a woman financially you actually, in terms of measurement of success of your society, go up in the human development index. Why is this important today? There was a time when we were measuring the success of a nation on basis of only GDP. Today we measure the success of a nation on the basis of the human development index. If that is the measure of a nation's success, then it is imperative that we invest in women as entrepreneurs, invest in women as leaders.

The union minister also stressed that not understanding English was becoming a hurdle in the growth of rural entrepreneurs.

She reiterated on the need to remove the language barrier faced by rural women entrepreneurs. "As they do not speak and understand English, it becomes a hurdle in their growth," the minister said while addressing a programme by the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO).

"It is the need of the hour to discuss how women can be made more powerful. The women of the country have to face defeat in the fight of language. They have a lot of talent. For their success, we have to remove their language barrier," she added.