- Saturday, July 06, 2024
Murty, a philanthropist and educator, was nominated to the Upper House of the parliament on the eve of the International Women’s Day in March this year.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (3) praised Sudha Murty, a renowned philanthropist, educator and author and the mother-in-law of British prime minister Rishi Sunak after she gave her maiden speech in Rajya Sabha or the Upper House of the Indian parliament as an MP.
Speaking during a discussion on the Motion of Thanks on president Droupadi Murmu’s address in the House on Tuesday (2), the 73-year-old Murty stressed on women’s health. She quoted her father, who was a surgeon, to say that when a mother dies, it is counted as one death in the hospital but for a family, a mother is lost forever.
“I want to thank Sudha Murty for speaking in detail about women’s health,” Modi said as Murty, who is the wife of India’s billionaire tech entrepreneur and co-founder of IT giant Infosys, Narayana Murthy, stood up and greeted him.
Read: Sunak’s mother-in-law Sudha Murty takes oath as India MP; WATCH
The prime minister also referred to Murty’s “emotional” remark on mothers to say that his government has put a focus on women’s health and sanitation on priority basis in the last decade. The Modi government completed 10 years in office in May.
“Our country’s women have benefited from the toilets we have made,” Modi said while replying to a debate on a motion thanking Murmu for her address to the joint sitting of the parliament last week.
Read: Akshata Murty praises mother Sudha Murty as business role model
He said they have also provided women sanitary pads and started a vaccination programme for pregnant women.
Murty urged the government to promote vaccination programme to combat cervical cancer among minor girls.
“There is a vaccination which is given to girls, between the age of nine to 14, known as a cervical vaccination. If the girls take that, it (cancer) can be avoided … we should promote vaccination for the benefit of our girls because prevention is better than cure,” she said.
She added that the Indian government has handled a major vaccination drive during the COVID-19 pandemic and it would not be difficult for it to provide cervical vaccination to girls aged between nine and 14 years.
Murty was nominated by president Murmu to the Rajya Sabha on the eve of International Women’s Day on March 8 this year.
The daughter of Sudha Murty and Narayana Murthy, Akshata, is a billionaire entrepreneur and was found campaigning for her poll-bound husband in the past weeks.
