Believe In Your Abilities, Chase Your Dreams: Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi Urges Girls, Young Women

Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi on Monday, November 20, 2023, encouraged girls and women to have faith in their abilities and pursue their dreams, regardless of whether a field is male-dominated. Lekhi was addressing a gathering of young innovators at an event hosted by UNICEF on World Children's Day in New Delhi. She urged them to go after their dreams, emphasizing that India has a history of recognizing brilliant minds, irrespective of age, and honoring them.

Young Innovators Showcase Their Work

Fourteen young innovators from across India showcased their ingenious work at the event, organized by UNICEF in partnership with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA). The exhibition, themed "Innovate for Equality," featured prototypes of innovative solutions developed by the young minds. These included a robotic sanitizing machine, a smart helmet, a mechanism to convert sign language into verbal text in English on a screen, smart gloves for communication, a 3D-printed artificial hand for para-athletes, and shoes for the visually impaired.

Lekhi Interacts with Young Innovators

Before delivering her keynote address, Lekhi interacted with the young innovators and saw the prototypes they had developed. She appreciated their creativity and encouraged them to use their full potential. Lekhi cited examples of women leading in certain academic fields and emphasized that girls should not feel limited by gender stereotypes. "Let girls not get this idea that it's a man's place or a guy's place. It's all equal for both genders," she said.

UNICEF Representative Stresses Importance of Innovation

Cynthia McCaffrey, UNICEF India Representative, opened the panel discussion by highlighting the significance of World Children's Day and emphasizing the importance of instilling innovative thinking by giving girls and boys equal opportunities. "Girls and boys, when given an equal opportunity to think, learn, experiment, innovate, tend to develop gender-sensitive solutions to problems that affect them the most. Innovative thinking encourages children's awareness of both the challenges and opportunities around them," McCaffrey said, as quoted in a UNICEF statement.

India's Rising Rank in Global Innovation Index

McCaffrey also acknowledged India's rise in the Global Innovation Index, from 81st to 40th, as an indicator of the country's innovation potential and the talent of its youth. "Several of whom we met today," she added. UNICEF believes in working for and with children to harness their creativity and ideas to help address inequalities and to raise young voices to support equal and empowering access to opportunities for all children and youth everywhere," McCaffrey said.The event showcased the innovative ideas and talents of young minds from across India. Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi's encouragement of girls and women to pursue their dreams, irrespective of gender stereotypes, resonated with the theme of World Children's Day. The participation of UNICEF and IGNCA in organizing the event highlighted the importance of fostering innovation and providing equal opportunities for all children and youth. By nurturing the creativity and potential of young innovators, India can continue to climb the ranks in the Global Innovation Index and make significant strides towards achieving gender equality and empowering future generations.