Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday termed crimes against women an unpardonable sin, adding the guilty should not be spared.Modi’s strong remarks follow protests against the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital and the sexual abuse of two four-year-old school girls in Badlapur near Mumbai.
Speaking at the ‘Lakhpati Didi Sammelan’ in north Maharashtra’s Jalgaon, Modi said the safety of women should be a priority.
“The safety of mothers, sisters, and daughters is the country’s priority. I have repeatedly raised this issue from the Red Fort. Be it any state of the country, I understand the pain and anger of my sisters and daughters,” he said.
Women did not have property in their name, and if they had to take a loan from a bank, they could not avail it, he said. In such a situation, they were not able to build their own small business, he added.
“Therefore, I, your son and brother, resolved to ease your lives. We took decisions in the interest of women year after year,” Modi said.
He said that of the 3 crore new houses that will be constructed under the government’s housing scheme, most will be allotted to women.
Modi said women were the major contributors when Jan Dhan accounts were opened.
“The Mudra scheme offered loans to people without any guarantee, and 70 per cent of the beneficiaries of this scheme turned out to be women. Some people opposed this scheme, citing risk factors and claimed it might become (bad) debt. But I trusted the women and their honesty.”
“When I visited you during the Lok Sabha elections, I promised we would make three crore sisters Lakhpati Didi. This means women who work in self-help groups and have an annual income of more than one lakh rupees,” he said.
In the last ten years, one crore Lakhpati Didis were made, and in just two months, 11 lakh more Lakhpati Didi were added, he said.
“Out of the newly added 11 lakh more Lakhpati Didis, one lakh are from Maharashtra,” he said.