FM Sitharaman to Chennai girl students: Own your skills
Synopsis
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed girl students in Chennai on 25 September 2026, urging them to identify personal aptitude, take responsibility before starting any pursuit, and give dedicated time to cultivating chosen skills.
Key Takeaways
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed girl students at an interactive session in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 25 September 2026 .
She urged students to identify skills based on personal aptitude rather than external pressure or trends.
Sitharaman stressed the need to understand what a pursuit involves and take responsibility before beginning it.
She used language learning as a concrete example, citing perseverance, consistent practice, and patience as essentials.
Her overarching message: decide what you want to pursue, give it dedicated time , and cultivate it actively.
The session forms part of a broader pattern of senior leaders engaging with young women on empowerment and capability themes .
Ownership, perseverance, and time — those were the three pillars Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid out for a room full of girl students in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on Friday, 25 September 2026, during an interactive session that cut through motivational noise to deliver something more direct: a blueprint for how to actually learn anything.
Sitharaman's three-step challenge to the students
The Finance Minister did not arrive with platitudes. She opened with accountability: 'It is you who has to identify, based on your personal aptitude, what skills you need to learn.' The emphasis on personal aptitude — not syllabus, not trends — was deliberate. Sitharaman's framing placed the diagnostic burden squarely on the learner herself, not on a teacher, a parent, or a government scheme.
She then moved to preparation: 'Before taking up something, understand what it involves and be prepared to take responsibility for it.' The word 'responsibility' arriving before 'passion' or 'talent' is a significant ordering. It signals that enthusiasm without readiness is a liability, not an asset.
Language learning as a case study in patience
Sitharaman grounded her argument in one of the most universally relatable skill challenges — learning a new language. 'If you want to learn a language, for instance, you need perseverance; you need to give it time, speak it and get used to it.' The choice of example was sharp: language acquisition cannot be crammed or hacked. It demands consistent, often uncomfortable, daily practice — exactly the model she was advocating for any serious skill.
The lesson travels well beyond linguistics. Whether the skill is coding, classical music, or financial literacy, the mechanics Sitharaman described — identification, preparation, dedicated time, repeated practice — apply with equal force.
Why a Finance Minister was talking skills in Chennai
Sessions with girl students have become part of a broader outreach pattern by senior leaders on themes of youth empowerment and capability building. For Sitharaman, a Chennai native with roots in Tamil Nadu, the setting carried an added dimension of homecoming — addressing young women in a city where she grew up, on a subject that is simultaneously personal and national.
India's skill gap remains a live policy concern. The message from the Finance Ministry's own office — 'decide what you want to pursue, give it time and cultivate it' — is, in its quiet way, a prod to students to think beyond the next entrance exam and toward the longer arc of who they are building themselves to be.
For these students in Chennai, the most powerful thing about the session may have been its simplicity: the country's top economic officer told them the government cannot shortcut the work. Only they can.
Point of View
Top leadership is reframing skill acquisition as an act of personal ownership rather than state delivery. By appearing before girl students in Chennai specifically, she reinforces the government's outreach on female workforce participation — a metric India still lags on. The deliberately non-partisan, non-schematic framing ('it is you who has to identify') also positions her as a mentor figure beyond the Finance Ministry brief, widening her public register ahead of what is likely to be a busy legislative and electoral calendar.
NationPress
25 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Nirmala Sitharaman say to students in Chennai?
She urged girl students to identify skills based on personal aptitude, take responsibility before pursuing anything, and give dedicated time to learning — using language acquisition as a practical example of why perseverance matters.
Where did Nirmala Sitharaman's student interactive session take place?
The interactive session was held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on 25 September 2026 .
What is Nirmala Sitharaman's advice on learning a new language?
She said learning a language requires perseverance, dedicated time, regular speaking practice, and patience to get used to it — reflecting her broader point that any skill demands consistent, responsible effort.
Why does Nirmala Sitharaman interact with girl students?
Such sessions form part of a broader outreach pattern by senior leaders on youth empowerment and capability building, with a particular focus on encouraging young women to take ownership of their education and career paths.
What is the key message from Sitharaman's Chennai student session?
The core message was self-determination in learning: identify your own aptitude, understand what a skill demands, accept responsibility for the work, and commit the time needed to genuinely cultivate it.
