Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development and Minority Affairs Smriti Irani graced the Business Today Most Powerful Women In Business event in Mumbai on March 29 as the chief guest
In the closing session ‘Woman Power: Bringing in India’s Better Half’, Union Minister Smriti Irani talked about the power of women, what makes a woman powerful, politics and more in a conversation with BT TV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi
Union Minister Smriti Irani said that politics should not be looked at from the perspective of a vocation as that would put a price on public service. She added, "I would rather have it be looked upon as a platform where multiple voices can converge for the greater good."
When asked about shattering glass ceilings in politics with the resounding win in Amethi in 2019 Lok Sabha polls when she ousted Rahul Gandhi from the Congress bastion, Smriti Irani said that she was not sent to Amethi because she was a female candidate, it was because she was the best candidate to give ‘that family’ a run for their money
Union Minister Smriti Irani said, “Our perspective towards power is so myopic that we look at it from our own perspective, bank balance and what we have.”
"Gender is not the only qualifier for every woman who succeeds,” said Union Minister Smriti Irani at BT MPW. She added that a woman is truly powerful when she takes decisions for herself because many times she is burdened with decision-making
Union Minister Smriti Irani addressed the problem of how a large number of women even in top positions conform to certain norms when it comes to finances, investing and managing their own money or assets. She said, “There is a difference between creating and controlling wealth.”
During her session, Union Minister Smriti Irani talked about the need for women to take charge of their finances, the importance of financial literacy, how it should begin early among teen girls and the need for them to be driven by goals such as buying their own house
Union Minister Smriti Irani talked about her humble beginnings and how her first job was at the fast food chain McDonalds in Mumbai’s Bandra, where she mopped the floors and earned Rs 1,500 per month
Talking about facing sexist jibes from the Opposition and making the Congress lose their Vidhan Sabha seats, Union Minister Smriti Irani slammed Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi saying, "Every time I am hit, I make sure they lose another seat."