Express Expressions l Smriti Irani on the post-Corona world

Union Minister for Women and Child Development and Textiles Smriti Irani said India can make world-class products at a competitive price.Deep engagement with officials at the state and district levels has yielded positive results, she said in a conversation with Prabhu Chawla, Editorial Director, The New Indian Express and author and senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai on TNIE’s Expressions, a series of live webcasts with people who matter.Women across classes have shouldered a lot of the burden during the pandemic. Can you take us through some of the initiatives you have taken in the past two months, especially for domestic violence — one of the biggest issues women faced?We were working to ensure that the one-stop crisis centres across the country were functional and never shut their doors, irrespective of the country being in lockdown. We reached out to every one-stop centre. Similarly, we engaged with all child care centres and women’s homes across the country to ensure that the people living in those homes are safe and have access to essential commodities.We also ensured that the anganwadis, which are at the frontline, continued to function. Even if anganwadis were shut, the take-home rations were delivered at the doorstep. In the lockdown, we had 9 crore female beneficiaries who received the rations at the doorstep.How do you take the incident of anganwadi workers being beaten away?The PM has been very vocal not only in terms of his words but also his action that the breakdown of law and order will not be accepted by the Centre. We have taken a Cabinet decision to protect frontline workers as well. There was also a public outrage over it. During the COVID-19 crisis, we saw a cohesiveness in the PM’s approach and the people’s response.Have cases of child abuse and violence against women gone up?When COVID-19 hit India, there was a lot of talks — and it came from international agencies — that across the world 80 per cent women are getting beaten at home. When we asked for validated figures, they said this is just a supposition. When we tracked the numbers, we found that they have gone down. But because it is an evolving situation, it would be premature for me to make a generic statement.What have we achieved in the journey from Make in India to ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’?We studied 580 export-import lines and we alerted the revenue department on increasing the import duties. In light of Covid-19, we tried to figure out how we can enhance the opportunities for local artisans. We coordinated with self-help groups for making face covers which are being locally consumed. I am engaged in further discussions on the textile ministry with the ministries of finance and commerce which I cannot mention right now.Will the existing textile units have to reinvented for new kinds of products?They have themselves adapted to new market needs.