NARENDRA MODI @ YOUNG FICCI LADIES ORGANISATION Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Young Ficci

Ladies Organisation (YFLO) in Delhi recently. His message to young mothers and professional women entrepreneurs was not that Hindu women are born better Indian citizens than Muslim women. It was that women must be made to feel wanted by society. For this, they must reject superstition; become economically self-sufficient; they must lay emphasis on values of motherhood (which is the personification of sacrifice); and the state must recognise the aspirations of women and be supportive of them. In Gujarat, he said, stamp duty was waived if property was registered in the name of women and the mother's name was mandatory in school admission forms. These were just two important steps among many that the government had taken to worship the ground on which Gujarat's women walked. It was clear that the women in the hall had begun to feel good about themselves. A young ingenue in the audience said: "I am sure it would be impossible for other states to fully implement these schemes. But what is possible is that we come to Gujarat to get these benefits. So how can we do that?" To this Modi smiled and replied, "You can come by train, by flight and if you are so inclined, even by bus. We have good services. Come, you won't want to go back." This was not a gathering of political people wanting to bait Modi. So nobody asked him why Babu Bajrangi, Bajrang Dal leader, is still out on bail. programmes. So, strategic partnerships with banks, professional institutions, skill-development agencies, industry associations, etc will provide finance, skills and market information to SHGs. Obviously, the biggest chunk of this will go to women. At the YFLO meeting, Modi explained how this will work. Take cattle rearing and the milk industry. In rural Gujarati households, he said, the task of taking care of cattle falls on the women of the house. They don't consider it extra work, he said, they view it as part of their housework. But their contribution is mindboggling. He described how he recently feted at a function, a simple rural unlettered woman who was responsible for selling 72 lakh (7.2 million) litres of milk in FY 2010-11. 72 lakh litres! The state government-promoted Gujarat Livelihood Promotion Company Ltd will be the convergence platform for livelihood