Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today praised former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as "most powerful PM of the country" on the occasion of International Women's Day celebration here.
"US still does not have a woman President yet. But we have woman as President, Lok Sabha Speaker and Prime Minister. Indira Gandhi was the most powerful PM in the country," Prabhu said here.
He said there are lots of women in and around the world who have set high performance benchmark and efficiency parameters for men to follow and have set a new work culture in the country.
"There are so many women employees in railways who are doing well. Generally, women do it better wherever they are," Prabhu said.
Railways have about one lakh women employees out of the more than 13 lakh strong workforce in the public transporter.
He asked women in railways to set new benchmarks so it becomes an example for men to follow.
Prabhu said Women's Day is not only just a day to be celebrated but it is a day for every individual to pledge to move from talk to purposeful action.
He further said that achievements and efficiency of women need to be recognized at all levels.
Instead of sympathizing with the women, we need to empower women to give them equality in all respects like literacy, education, financial status etc, he added.
"We are very much aware about the fact where we have to
improve and we are working hard towards it. So far as the problem of overcrowding is concerned, I have put forward a proposal to the state government to stagger the working hours to iron out the crowd in local trains. And I hope that we can have joint action with state government and come up with some concrete provision to deal with the overcrowding," Prabhu said.
Stating that he has travelled more than 1,500 kms in the last three to four days, Prabhu added that the works which were not done in last 15-20 years cannot be done in only 15-20 days.
"But with the active help of governments concerned, we are thriving hard to conquer upon the ailing issues of the railways, including seeking funds from World Bank and its allies," Prabhu added.
