BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Friday, June 12, 2026 highlighted 12 years of the Modi government's women-centric welfare programmes, asserting that women's participation and empowerment have grown steadily since 2014 and are central to building a developed India.

Context

Posting under the hashtag #12YearsOfNariShakti, Thakur wrote: 'सशक्त नारी, समृद्ध व विकसित भारत का आधार' — 'An empowered woman is the foundation of a prosperous and developed India.' He added that over the past 12 years, respect, prosperity, and well-being of matrishakti (motherly strength) have seen continuous growth compared to earlier periods, and that rising women's participation is integral to the Viksit Bharat (Developed India) mission.

The post accompanied a video and was shared in Hindi, reflecting the ruling party's consistent messaging around women's welfare as a political and developmental benchmark ahead of multiple state election cycles.

Policy Backdrop

The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, launched in January 2015, was the first major plank of this agenda — aimed at reversing a declining child sex ratio and improving girl-child education and survival rates. It was followed in May 2016 by the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, which provided free LPG connections to women from below-poverty-line households, directly targeting energy access and health outcomes in rural India.

The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017 extended paid maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks for organised-sector women workers — one of the longest such entitlements in Asia at the time. Most recently, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, enacted in September 2023, constitutionally reserved 33 percent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, marking a structural shift in political representation.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of these schemes span rural and semi-urban households, with programmes ranging from clean cooking fuel to institutional deliveries and girl-child scholarships. The government has consistently cited indicators such as LPG access rates, female school enrolment figures, and institutional delivery percentages as evidence of rising female agency across successive Union budgets.

Women's groups and policy researchers have broadly welcomed the legislative steps, particularly the women's reservation amendment, while also pointing to the gap between legislative intent and on-ground implementation — including the pending delimitation exercise required before the reservation law takes full effect in Parliament.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the forthcoming Periodic Labour Force Survey data on female workforce participation, which will serve as a key empirical test of the government's claims of sustained progress. Any subordinate legislation or rules notified under the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — particularly around delimitation timelines — will also be closely watched by women's rights advocates and opposition parties alike. For the BJP, the #12YearsOfNariShakti campaign signals that women's empowerment will remain a central narrative in its electoral communication through the next election cycle.