Melinda Gates, a philanthropist, praised India for supporting gender equality and said, “India continues to show the world what investing in women can do and the advantages of investing in women.”
In addition, the co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation stated that India has been constructing a more gender-equal nation by using digital bank accounts to send money to over 20 crore women throughout the pandemic.
Melinda Gates further explained at the “Women Leading Change in Health and Science in India” conference in Delhi that “the government used digital bank accounts to transfer money to them in order to protect 300 million people during the pandemic, including 200 million women.”
The national government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has previously offered financial assistance worth 20,000 crore to 20 crore women with bank accounts under the Jan Dhan Scheme in 2020.
Melinda Gates praised the prime minister’s effort and said it was a good illustration of how India creates policies with gender equality in mind when cash transfers are made straight to women’s hands.
Gates had high hopes that the Gates Foundation and the Indian government would coordinate their efforts in order to achieve common objectives and further the cause of gender equality in the nation.
