PM's 'nari shakti' speech: Activists question Modi on what's done on ground for women
New Delhi(PTI): Women rights activists on Monday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the actual implementation of schemes for women on the ground, after he hailed 'nari shakti' in his Independence Day speech.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 76th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi urged people to pledge not to do anything that lowers the dignity of women, adding that a mentality to insult them in speeches and behaviour has crept in.
Modi said respect for women is an important pillar for India's growth and stressed the need to extend support to Nari Shakti.' Activists sought to corral Prime Minister Modi on the implementation of schemes for women on the ground.
Akancha Srivastava, social activist and the founder of Akancha Srivastava Foundation, a non-profit organisation that works towards cyber safety knowledge, said the first and foremost issue is women safety and education.
"Access to education for girls has been very very disproportionate so I would like to see what are those policy changes. If we look at two, three tier towns there are many towns where girls still don't have access to washrooms in schools because of the mindset that girls are not considered to be somebody who would take their education seriously," she told PTI.
She asked where are the practical safety measures which were to be implemented with the Nirbhaya fund.
"I am glad we are speaking about it but till there is no suraksha and shiksha there could be no shakti. Even if there are measures they need to be scaled up 100 times. A little bit of a gap is there in implementation - there are all things in place, policies, funds and a genuine intention but I want to see execution," she said.
All India Progressive Women's Association member Kavita Krishnan said it is always welcome when an elected representative speaks of the need to change the mentality towards women in everyday life.
"My concern is that this kind of "advice" ('upadesh') is usually too general, never specific. So it rings hollow because there is silence on Modi's own supporters who auction Muslim women online, on Hindu-supremacist Yati Narsinhanand who has called for the rape of Muslim women and referred to women in BJP as sluts, and on those whom Modi himself follows on Twitter who attack women like me in the vilest language," she said.
Krishnan pointed out that in the last budget, the gender budget decreased from 0.71 per cent of the GDP of the revised estimates for 2021-22 to 0.66 per cent in the budgetary estimates of 2022-2023.
"Modi speaks of Nari Shakti but in the Union Budget 2022-23, the budget allocated for Mission Shakti (Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women) was increased to a mere Rs 3,184 crore from Rs 3,109 crore in 2021-22! The combined budget for Mission Shakti, Mission Samarthya and Mission Vatsalya was below 1 per cent of the total expenditure," she said.
She charged that the prime minister has been silent on BJP state governments which have been stopping women and girls from attending schools and colleges for wearing hijab.
Yogita Bhayana, a women's rights activist who heads People Against Rape in India', said Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' was also spoken about from the ramparts of Red Fort but we hear about atrocities against women everyday.
"As a prime minister, it is good that he is giving this message loud and clear but for it to be converted on ground, efforts have to be put in. Policies have to change and utilisation of funds towards women have to be made...in his own party and government he has to give equal opportunities to women," she said.
Message is important, but its implementation is even more important, she stressed.
"I don't see any vision of the Women and Child Development ministry. It has been made so low key. We have to work towards it. NGOs' roles have been cut and the government is not supporting them...to empower women deliberations used to take place a lot earlier even now that have also reduced, Bhayana said.
They have to come up with a roadmap. You tell people to change their mindset. Laws like 498 A are being diluted how women will be empowered. Implementation has to be made strong," she told PTI.
Section 498A states that whoever, the husband or a relative of the husband, subjects a woman to cruelty (for property or dowry) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years. Such an offence is cognisable and non-bailable under the law.
The Supreme Court had observed that there was a need to reduce the growing instances of abuse of the said provision as innocent family members, including senior citizens, were often harassed under Section 498A.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
