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The world is leapfrogging in women’s empowerment, World Bank President David Malpass has said and praised India’s efforts, especially that of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, saying he is “deeply interested and concerned.”
Participating in a panel discussion on “Empowering Women as Entrepreneurs and Leaders” organised by the World Bank on the sidelines of its spring meetings in Washington on 13 April 2023, Malpass and Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, along with other panelists, discussed the development and empowerment of women in India and the world.
Malpass commended the efforts of Prime Minister Shri Modi in India, where the World Bank has a massive programme. For women to be able to communicate, to have digital transactions without having to go to the bank where there might be a male clerk, that doesn’t really receive them well, is hugely empowering, he said. “And also just the source of information that women can get on how other women are operating in other parts of the world, that’s huge. And so, I think we should push that along as fast as we can,” Malpass said.
Smt. Sitharaman said, “I’ll give you the example of skilling programmes, which are happening in India wherein, I don’t know what I can make out of this. If a hundred people are trained and they’re trained in such skills which are useful for employment, immediate recruitment potential, 68 per cent of all those who have been recruited are women. “It just says a lot more about how women are ready once they have the skills in their hands to get going”.