Dr Priti Adani, Chairperson of the Adani Foundation, on Thursday said that women must be recognised as central architects of India's growth story as the country moves towards becoming a developed nation by 2047.
Speaking at the 'Sashakt Nari, Viksit Bharat' conference organised by the Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) in the national capital, the Chairperson stressed that women's economic participation is essential for achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
Welcoming Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annapurna Devi, Dr Priti Adani said there is strong policy momentum behind women-led development.
However, she urged that the focus must now move from intent to sustained economic participation at the grassroots level.
Drawing from on-ground experience, Dr Priti Adani said empowerment begins with access. In rural areas where formal education levels are often limited, women farmers supported by the Adani Foundation have been introduced to simple agricultural mobile applications.
These apps help them with irrigation planning, fertiliser use, seed selection and tracking mandi prices.
According to her, better access to information has improved productivity, raised incomes and boosted confidence among women farmers.
She also highlighted progress in the dairy sector, where collective efforts have strengthened women's earning potential.
More than 3,500 women are now part of self-help group-led milk collection centres facilitated by the Adani Foundation, handling over 75 lakh litres of milk annually.
Transparent pricing, quality testing and organised procurement have helped improve income stability and bargaining power.
Referring to the Adani Foundation's maternal and women's health initiative 'SuPoshan', Dr Priti Adani said trained local women volunteers have supported better health outcomes for over 3.25 lakh women in the reproductive age group.
She added that the 'Swabhimaan' programme has enabled more than 4,500 women across 300 enterprise self-help groups to build sustainable livelihoods.
Dr Priti Adani underlined that empowerment is not about charity, but about expanding access to skills, finance, markets and leadership opportunities.
She said that recent policy measures, including the Self-Help Entrepreneurs initiative announced in the Union Budget, are important steps in helping women move from micro-credit participation to becoming enterprise owners with access to growth capital.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
