The Hindu Tamil Nadu Women’s Summit 2024: T.N. Industries Minister calls for greater participation of women in politics

The Hindu’s Tamil Nadu Women’s Summit 2024 highlights women empowerment, gender diversity, and inclusive ecosystems in India.

At the The Hindu’s Tamil Nadu Women’s Summit 2024, Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa called for greater participation of women in politics. “If you want to be the change, you need to come and step in and ensure that you can make that,” he said and added that they chose wisely while choosing from various political parties.

Delivering the key note address in The Hindu’s Tamil Nadu Women Summit 2024, Mr. Rajaa cited various data sets to underline that Tamil Nadu was the “talent capital of India,” which was one of the biggest sources of the government.

The State’s achievements in women empowerment were because of the “ideological-driven government,” he said. What late social reformer ‘Periyar’ E.V. Ramasamy had started was carried forward by former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai and eventually by former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, he said.

Successive governments have pushed for education and the output was talent, which led to growth and industrialisation that eventually led to empowerment, the Minister said. “Tamil Nadu is symbolic of empowerment because of the push of successive governments given to education”

Citing statistics over women’s participation in various sectors, Mr. Rajaa underlined that women were in jobs that were highly important and were actively involved in building the nation.

The Minister cited a 2009 Oxford study that said after the penetration of cable TV in the State, there was a significant decline in acceptance of domestic violence. The study also found that there was a drop in the preference for a son over a daughter and there was increased participation in household decision-making, he said.

Recalling his reading The Hindu since his childhood, Mr. Rajaa said he had been “chiselled” by the newspaper and went on to say that a part of him was The Hindu. “It’s one way to read into stories that resonate, stories which are true, to the facts, something which we are very sadly missing in many of our lives.”