Active involvement of women lawmakers in growth needed:Mahajan

Active involvement of women Parliamentarians in the development process will result in meaningful and inclusive growth, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said today.
"As development partners, we can involve citizens in the process of development and can also strengthen innovative partnerships with civil society organisations to scrutinise and assess the effectiveness of various Government programmes.
"Therefore, active involvement of our women Parliamentarians in the process will result in a greater responsiveness towards citizen's needs and will lead to greater harmony, meaningful development and inclusive growth," Mahajan remarked at the valedictory session of BRICS Women Parliamentarians' Forum here.
She also stressed on inclusiveness in development to make it sustainable and effective while underlining the role of laws and legislations to achieve sustainable development.

Noting that the members of Parliament are a better interface between citizens and government, the Speaker said, sustainable development can be brought about by this interface and also through laws and legislations.
"Development must be inclusive if it is to be equitable, sustainable and effective.

"Therefore mainstreaming equity is vital for ameliorating the socio-economic conditions of people within the framework of sustainable development," she said, while pointing that women have natural instinct towards development and progress.
Talking about the Sustainable Development Goals, she said that the 17 goals and 169 associated targets have the potential to transform the future.
"It must be our endeavour to achieve these goals in our own interest and in the global interest as well. As law makers, it is our responsibility to oversee and monitor the implementation strategies and mechanisms of the SDGs put in place by our respective Governments," she noted.

Delivering the concluding remarks at the session, Mahajan called upon the delegates to learn and benefit from the best practices in the BRICS member countries.
She highlighted the practices followed in the member countries for women's welfare.
"In Brazil, five-minute programmes are run on radio and television to promote women oriented programmes targeting specific social groups. In Russia, there is special focus on preventive medical check-up and serious efforts to lower the incidences of non-communicable diseases.
"China's four-point action plan involves women's all round development and protection of women's rights and interests and fostering a global environment favourable for women's development. In South Africa, the Select Committee and Portfolio Committee on Women in Parliament and Multi-party Women Caucus in both Houses of Parliament have been a major development," she said.

Mahajan hoped the three important subjects discussed during the two-day meeting, which began yesterday, would encourage women parliamentarians to meet regularly to discuss and exchange views on the problems and challenges faced by them as lawmakers.
Delivering the valedictory address, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said irrespective of differences in development indices and growth levels, all member countries of BRICS have a large population which needs to prosper.
"To achieve this end, it is important that development processes are sustainable.
"BRICS can play a catalytic role in forging partnership among women lawmakers in mainstreaming SDGs," she said.
"We need to make safer and resilient model and we need to bring all together to bring down inequality," she said.

Raje also stressed on improving the level of education among people and informed the delegates at the Forum about Rajasthan government fixing minimum education qualification for public representatives to contest (Panchayat) polls.