Odisha Women Empowerment Model Best in Country: Naveen

Bhubaneswar: The empowerment model for women in Odisha is one amongst the best in the country, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Saturday while launching the first FLO Odisha Women’s Awards instituted to acknowledge and award the women achievers of the State. 

He said that his government has always been a champion of the cause of women empowerment.

Naveen remembered legendary freedom fighter and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik in this context and said that Biju Babu, all through his life, championed the cause of women empowerment in India.

In Odisha, Biju Babu reposed faith on women to run Panchayati Raj Institutions. He envisioned women leaders in every sphere of society, Naveen said.

Today Odisha is much ahead in women empowerment, the Chief Minister noted.

Mission Shakti, one of the key initiatives of our empowerment model, has successfully brought over eight million women from the four walls of family to socio-economic vibrancy, Naveen said.

The rural women in Odisha are, now, increasingly becoming a major contributor to our growing economy.

With initiatives like Make-in-Odisha, Start-Up Odisha and Skilled-in-Odisha, more and more women in Odisha are coming to entrepreneurship, the CM stated.

The women in Odisha have also been achieving great feats in national and international sports, he said.

Furthermore, Odisha became the first state in the country to walk the talk and resolved in State Assembly to allocate 33 percent of seats in the Parliament and State Legislative Assembly last year.

Since 2011, Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies in State are represented by over 50 percent women, Naveen added.

The Chief Minister thanked the FICCI-FLO for its endeavour to encourage and facilitate women to showcase their talents, skills and energy at the grassroots, middle and senior levels, for an inclusive economic growth trajectory.