On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to ‘nari shakti’ and announced that his social media properties will be handled by several women achievers for the day. With a short video on X, the Prime Minister reaffirmed his government’s commitment to women’s empowerment via various schemes and programmes.
“We bow to our Nari Shakti on #WomensDay! Our Government has always worked for empowering women, reflecting in our schemes and programmes. Today, as promised, my social media properties will be taken over by women who are making a mark in diverse fields,” he tweeted.
One of the women who will handle PM Modi’s social media properties for the day is Chess Grandmaster Vaishali. She won the Women’s Grand Swiss Tournament 2023, and is also the elder sister of chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
In a series of tweets on the Prime Minister’s X handle, Vaishali expressed her “thrill” to be taking over the duty.
“I am Vaishali and I am thrilled to be taking over our PM Narendra Modi Ji’s social media properties and that too on #WomensDay. As many of you would know, I play chess and I feel very proud to be representing our beloved country in many tournaments,” she wrote on the micro-blogging platform.
She also urged parents and siblings to support girls and trust their abilities.
“I feel that today’s India provides a lot of support to women athletes, which is very encouraging. From inspiring women to pursue sports to training to giving them adequate sporting exposure, the progress India is making is exceptional,” Vaishali tweeted.
Two other women who will handle the Prime Minister’s accounts for the day are nuclear scientist Elina Mishra and space scientist Shilpi Soni. They also noted in their tweet that they are “thrilled to be helming the PM’s social media properties on #WomensDay”.
“Our message- India is the most vibrant place for science and thus, we call upon more women to pursue it,” they tweeted.
Mishra is from Bhubaneswar while Soni is from Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. Mishra said her dream of working in the scientific field became true when she was selected at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. Soni, meanwhile, said it has been a dream-come-true for her to work at ISRO following a short stint at the DRDO.
“After a stint at DRDO, it was a dream come true to work with ISRO, where I have contributed towards design, development and induction of state-of-the-art RF and Microwave subsystem technologies for more than 35 communication and navigation mission of ISRO over the last 24 fruitful years,” Shilpi Soni tweeted.
Another woman bestowed with the opportunity to handle the Prime Minister’s social media properties is entrepreneur Anita Devi from a village of Nalanda district in Bihar. She started her own startup, called Madhopur Farmers Producer Company Limited, nine years ago.
“Today, I am working to take my family forward through mushroom production. I have not only made my path easier, but have also made hundreds of women self-reliant by giving them employment opportunities. Now my company also provides essential items like fertilizers, seeds and pesticides to farmers at cheap rates. Today, hundreds of women working in this company are getting a life of self-respect along with livelihood,” she tweeted.
This is not the first time that women achievers took over PM Modi’s social media accounts for Women’s Day. In 2020, as many as seven women achievers handled his social media properties.
