युवा आवेग

We, the people of India, live in a nation where women are worshipped as goddess of everything like goddess of prosperity, goddess of knowledge, goddess of power etc. Instead of being a patriarchal society, our ancestors always tried to develop a mindset among their children to respect their present whether they belong to their family or not. This culture was so famous that no person was allowed to touch any woman without her permission. Little girls were worshipped as little goddesses and during festivals every member of the family touched their feet for the prosperity of their family. Women were allowed to participate in public debates, yajna and they wrote many important books. Some of the important women were Gargi, Apala, Lopamudra, Anusuiya etc. During Satvahana age, the respect towards women reached its peak such that each emperor named their mother before his name like Gautamiputra Shatkarni, Vashishthiputra Pulumavi. They participated in administrative works of their kingdom. During the reign of Chhatrapati Shivaji Mahraj, his mother mata Jijabai played an important role in developing the dream of Swaraj in his blood. Malwa queen Rajmata Ahilyabai Holkar fought against her various enemies and redeveloped many temples of Bharat like The Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Varanasi in 1780, The Somnath Temple, The Badrinath temple, The Kedarnath Temple, Rameshwaram Temple etc. These Temples were ruined by various outsiders who tried to destroy the culture and art of India. Queen of Jhansi Rani Laxmi Bai fought against Britishers to save her land and country from foreigners. She fought against them very bravely and killed many of them. She played an important role in the first war of independence of 1857. 

Savitri Bai Phule (wife of Jyotiba Phule, a great social reformer) played an important role to empower women in the field of education. She was the first woman to open a school for women in Nasik. Annie Besant, Sarojini Naidu, Rani Gaidilineu, Matangini Hazra, Durga Bhabhi etc. played an important role in the freedom movement of India. Gandhiji, Patel ji, Nehru Ji always praised them. 

In the above paragraphs I have mentioned some of our great women before 1947. But, the mindset of Indians was very orthodox in nature. They were unable to accept that women can be head of a family, a village, a district, a state or a nation. Their thinking was that women are made for kitchen, childbirth and house work only. For some years their orthodox thinking reached its peak. 

But then Vijaya Laxmi pandit became the first lady of the world as President of UNGA in 1954. This was the inspiration for each and every woman of the world. After him, Indira Gandhi became the first lady Prime minister of Bharat. And in the 1970s Kiran Bedi became the first woman IPS. After him many Indian women were inspired and they started to achieve every possible target. They were mainly achieving targets in the tertiary sector and primary sector. But the secondary sector remained untouched for many decades. Women were dying due to undernutrition. The government was trying to solve this problem but was unable to do so. Some of the women tried to create their own business but due to lack of support (from their family and government) they were unable to stand on their own feet. Women were unable to participate in defense exams because they were discriminated against on the basis of gender and strength. 

But it is always said that destiny always gives a second chance. In 2014, the Union government led by Shri Narendra Modi ji came with a new vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Under this Modiji told everyone that without support of our women power India can never be a self-reliant Nation. He launched an initiative Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao to empower the education of our girls. After it, the government launched various programmes and initiatives like SHE initiative, One stop centre, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana yojana, Ujjawala scheme etc. But these schemes only focus on the health and social security of women. In 2016 the government launched the PM -Mudra Yojna to empower the youth. This scheme played a very important role in empowering the youth towards the manufacturing sector. Various startups (about 2 lakh) were launched after this scheme. And India reached in the top 5 nations of the world in startup rankings, with the contribution of women reaching 30 percent. In 2020s government launched scheme names stand up India in which a woman, Scheduled caste and scheduled tribe person can take loan upto 1crore (collateral free loan). This scheme created an opportunity for many women. The effects of these schemes were so great that women's share reached 58 % in 2023 - 24. In 2022, the government and Supreme Court decided to allow women in the armed forces. And in 2023, by the 108th constitutional amendment, the government was allowed to give 33 % reservation in general elections from 2029. Women like Indira Jaysing, Falguni Nyyer, Sudha Murthy, Draupadi Murmu ji, Ghazal Alagh etc. have set a great example of women empowerment in Bharat. Their active participation in their fields has created a confidence in other women that they can also do much better than society expects from them. Our government is trying to do every possible effort to grow our women. Society must also open its eyes to nurture them. Women can be in the form of sister, wife, daughter or friend. If we promote them at every possible stage our society, our state, our country will become self reliant very early. 

In our ancient books, it is written that 

Yatra nāryastu pūjyante ramante tatra devatāḥ| 

yatraitāstu na pūjyante sarvāstatrāphalāḥ kriyāḥ || 56 || 

Devatas (gods) reside where women are respected and worshipped. Where women are disrespected, all actions and dharma come to naught and do not bear fruits.

Team Yuva Aaveg-

Shashwat

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