Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday emphasized on the need to ensure participation of women in all fields of life which is every Indian’s fundamental duty and that the dream of a New India envisages women who are strong, empowered and equal partners in development.

In his monthly radio talk, he said a woman’s power today underlined inner fortitude and self-confidence, which made her self-reliant.

“Not only has she herself advanced but has carried forward the country and society to newer heights…Today the country is moving forward from the path of women development to women-led development,” he said.

Referring to International Women’s Day observed every year on 8 March, he recalled the words of Swami Vivekananda, who had said the idea of “perfect womanhood” was “perfect independence”.

“We are part of a tradition where men were identified because of women. Yashoda-Nandan, Kaushalya-Nandan, Gandhari-Putra, these were identities of a son…,” he said.

As India observes National Science Day on February 28, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of the “relentless quest” for truth.

“And this is the very essence, the real inspiration behind scientific inventions and discoveries. Never rest till every why what and how are answered,” he said.

On the issue of safety ahead of National Safety Day on March four, he said  “if we are not aware of safety in our daily life, if we are not able to attain a certain level, it will get extremely difficult during the time of disasters,” he said.

Modi regretted that while people read signboards on safety, they often ignored the messages.

He said till three years ago, thousands of people lost their lives every year because of heat waves. Since then, the NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority) has organised workshops on heat wave management as part of a campaign to raise awareness among the people.

“In 2017, the death toll on account of heat wave  came down remarkably to around 220 or so. This proves that if we accord priority to safety, we can actually attain safety,” he said.

On  the newly-launched ‘Gobar Dhan’ scheme where rural waste would be converted to clean energy through biogas under the government’s Swachch Bharat campaign, Modi said the aim of ‘Gobar Dhan’ — or Galvanising Organic Bio Agro Resources — was to ensure cleanliness in villages and generate wealth and energy by converting cattle dung and solid agricultural waste into compost and biogas.

He pointed out that India had, at close to 300 million, the highest cattle population in the world, with a daily output of three million tonnes of dung.

He said a target had now been set to use cattle dung, agricultural waste, kitchen waste to produce biogas-based energy.

Under the scheme, farmers will be encouraged to consider dung and other waste not as waste but as a source of income.

“There will be novel opportunities for newer jobs linked to waste collection, transportation, biogas sales. An online trading platform will be created for the better implementation of ‘Gobar Dhan Yojana’ — it will connect farmers to buyers,” he said.

Modi called for self-help groups and cooperatives to take this forward.

“I urge entrepreneurs, especially our sisters residing in rural India, to step forward, and through the creation of self-help groups and cooperative societies extract full advantage from this opportunity,” he said.