As a woman—and a first-generation political practitioner with the benefit of academic grounding—I watched last week’s developments in the Lok Sabha with deep dismay. What allegedly unfolded was not mere parliamentary disorder, but something far more disturbing: reports and widespread parliamentary chatter suggesting that a group of Opposition women MPs had planned a coordinated commotion…
The Union Budget 2025–26 is being sold, predictably, as another exercise in social spending dressed up as reform. But buried beneath the predictable headlines and partisan sparring is a quieter, more consequential shift: women are no longer being positioned merely as recipients of state support, but as economic actors—entrepreneurs, workers, producers, and stakeholders in India’s…
When A. Revanth Reddy crisscrossed Telangana during the last Assembly elections, one promise rang loudest in homes, marketplaces, and self-help group meetings: direct monthly financial assistance of ₹3,000 for women. It was a pledge wrapped in empathy and empowerment, pitched as a lifeline for households battling inflation and rising costs. For lakhs of women, it…
By Alekya Pratap As an ordinary karyakarta of the world’s largest political organization, the Bharatiya Janata Party, I wholeheartedly welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visionary announcement to groom nearly one lakh young karyakartas into future leaders. This is not a routine party initiative. It is a declaration of national intent — a conscious effort to…
For decades after Independence, India spoke eloquently about women’s empowerment but acted timidly. Gender equality was celebrated in speeches, referenced in policy documents, and showcased on paper—but rarely backed with sustained budgets, institutional urgency, or political competition. That inertia decisively broke after 2014. Especially, with the ban on Triple Talaq, which indeed remove gender inequality,…
By Alekya Pratap Neelakantam No honest observer can claim that all is hunky-dory on women’s issues in India. Isolated atrocities continue to scar society and demand collective introspection. Yet, to deny the scale, intent, and continuity of the Narendra Modi government’s push for women’s empowerment would be willful blindness. For decades, successive governments spoke the…
