Lok Sabha Speaker Calls Women’s Economic Empowerment Cornerstone of Viksit Bharat Roadmap
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attends first National Conference of Parliamentary and Legislative Committees on Empowerment of Women in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, on Monday.
Tirupati, September 16: The first National Conference of Parliamentary and Legislative Committees on Women Empowerment concluded in Tirupati with the adoption of the ‘Tirupati Resolution’, outlining a comprehensive roadmap to advance women’s education, health, entrepreneurship, and digital inclusion.
In his valedictory address, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla stressed that women’s empowerment must be viewed not as welfare but as a foundation of national development. “By investing in women’s health, education, skills and entrepreneurship, India can unlock a vast reservoir of human capital and build a resilient socio-economic model,” he said, adding that women’s leadership will be pivotal to achieving Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Birla underlined that Gender Responsive Budgeting should function as a socio-economic model, integrating women’s needs into mainstream planning and ensuring equal access to healthcare, education, and livelihoods. He urged the institutionalisation of Gender Budget Cells in ministries and state departments, coupled with gender-disaggregated data to monitor outcomes.
Marking the International Day of Democracy, the Speaker said India’s democratic ethos is deeply rooted in its civilisation, where equality, dialogue, and participation are core values. He recalled reformers like Savitribai Phule, whose work in education transformed women’s emancipation, and cited examples of grassroots initiatives that continue to inspire policy today.
The Tirupati Resolution commits to:
- Applying a gender lens across all ministries and departments.
- Enhancing allocations for women’s health, education, skills, and entrepreneurship.
- Expanding digital literacy programmes and bridging the gender digital divide.
- Promoting women’s participation in STEM, ensuring cyber safety, and making women active creators of technology.
The resolution reaffirmed women-led development as central to India’s growth journey, pledging to place women’s education, health, dignity, safety, and self-reliance at the heart of national progress.
