The Twitter war between Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now touched upon the topic of “women’s empowerment”.
On Friday, Siddaramaiah called Prime Minister Modi’s various schemes for women empowerment “tokenism”. The Karnataka Chief Minister went on to give Modi a lesson and asked him to take a leaf out of the Congress government’s policy for women’s empowerment.
“Tokenism Modi ji. Real empowerment comes from real policies. Yesterday you ridiculed a candle light march to protest against defenders of child rapists in Kathua and today you pretend to care for Mahila Shakti. Please learn from Karnataka how it is done,” Siddaramaiah said in a tweet.
Tokenism Modi ji. Real empowerment comes from real policies. Yesterday you ridiculed a candle light march to protest against defenders of child rapists in Kathua & today you pretend to care for Mahila Shakti.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 4, 2018
Please learn from Karnataka how it is done. Follow this thread. 1/5 https://t.co/378RBTADDA
“We have made education free for girls from class 1 to PG,” he added.
The CM took a dig at Modi’s statement regarding the safety of women in Bengaluru and compared it to the situation in New Delhi.
“Bengaluru, the city you ridiculed yesterday, leads the nation with 25% women’s participation in workforce. In Delhi, the city you live in, the rate is 10%. We must be doing something right,” Siddaramaiah said.
1. We have made education free for girls from class 1 to PG.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 4, 2018
2. Bengaluru, the city you ridiculed yesterday, leads the nation with 25% women’s participation in workforce. In Delhi, the city you live in, the rate is 10%. We must be doing something right.
2/5
The CM went on to list a series of scheme launched by the government during his five year term.
“Our Matrupoorna gives mid day meal to 10 lakh pregnant and lactating mothers so that motherhood is safe & the child is healthy. We have amended laws to make Child Marriage void. We give free bus passes to all students, half of whom are girls. We give loans to women entrepreneurs at 4% interest. We have set up Industrial parks exclusively for women. We have received an international award for being the best state for women entrepreneurs. We give a revolving fund of Rs 25,000 per group to women SHG. We have economic empowerment programs for sex workers, HIV+ women, transgenders etc. We have introduced Pink Hoysala Vehicles for emergency response in Bengaluru city,” Siddaramaiah said in a series of tweets.
“There are many more. Dear Narendra Modi ji let us cut Bhashan & promote Action,” he added.
3. Our Matrupoorna gives mid day meal to 10 lakh pregnant & lactating mothers so that motherhood is safe & the child is healthy.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 4, 2018
4. We have amended law to make Child Marriage void ab initio.
5. We give free bus passes to all students, half of whom are girls.
3/5
6. We give loans to women entrepreneurs at 4% interest.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 4, 2018
7. We have set up Industrial parks exclusively for women. We have received an international award for being the best state for women entrepreneurs.
8. We give a revolving fund of Rs 25,000 per group to women SHG.
4/5
9. We have economic empowerment programs for sex workers, HIV+ women, transgenders etc.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 4, 2018
10. We have introduced Pink Hoysala Vehicles for emergency response in Bengaluru city.
There are many more.
Dear @narendramodi ji let us cut Bhashan & promote Action.
5/5
Siddaramaiah’s tweet comes after Prime Minister Modi tweeted a picture of ministers of external affairs and defence from various countries, which had only two women, both from India.
“We have given important portfolios to women in our Cabinet. These two pictures are proof of that,” Modi had said.
During his speech Modi had said, “Under PM MUDRA yojana, 12 crore loans have been allocated out of which more than 70% of the beneficiaries are women. They are not only self-employed but also employing others. Our govt stands solidly to support women at every stage whether they want to become home maker, job seeker or job creator. Awareness in the society about atrocities on women and sense of responsibility can help us get rid of social evil. We have organised 4 lakh free health check-ups and free vaccination of nearly 10 lakh women and children were done in Karnataka. The government has recently made stringent amendments in laws relating to crimes against women and children, increasing the punishment up to death penalty in some cases. Many schemes have been launched in the past for woman empowerment, but their direction was not right. It has always been our effort to give equal opportunity to women.”