Raising family more difficult than making political profile: Smriti Irani

Speaking at the Women's Economic Forum, Irani said that politics is not as bad or tough as it is often made out to be

Seeking to debunk the popular belief that politics is a tough field for women, HRD minister Smriti Irani today said that raising a family is far more difficult than developing a political profile.

"I think it is more difficult to raise a family than to raise a political profile," Irani said while speaking at the valedictory session of the Women's Economic Forum (WEF) here.

Irani said that politics is not as bad or tough as it is often made out to be.

"There is huge shadow which is cast over politics and women. I want to tell women that the only way their entry in politics is disabilitated is by telling them that this is a very very tough field in which not many women last," she said.

Emphasising that politics is not as bad or as tough as its is made to appear, she said that if someone has any corporate experience or in the social sector, it is good enough.

She said that even in corporate sector it was difficult for women to break the glass ceiling and enter leadership positions.

Irani also said that she never tried to adopt a role model but would rather have men say that they would want to be like Smriti Irani.

She said women are more confident and also "unabashedly ambitious". She said that many women are taking loans under government schemes and over 99% of them repaid them.