Clean India mission improved education of Muslim girls: PM

Addressing the AMU students at the University's centenary celebrations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the role of the Clean India mission in reducing the school dropout rate of Muslim girls. PM in his address said that under the Clean India mission has substantially reduced school dropout rate of Muslim girls, from nearly 70% to less than 30%, reports ETV Bharat's Krishnanand Tripathi.

New Delhi:The Union government’s toilet construction drive under the Clean India mission has substantially reduced school dropout rate of Muslim girls, from nearly 70% to less than 30%, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address at the centenary celebrations of Aligarh Muslim University. The Prime Minister said all welfare schemes of his government have been implemented without any discrimination on any basis, including religion.

Addressing the AMU students and alumni on Tuesday, Prime Minister Modi said an AMU alumni and Islamic scholar shared an interesting aspect of the Clean Indian mission with him which needs to be highlighted.

The Prime Minister said when more than 10 crores (100 million) toilets were constructed under the mission, they were constructed without any discrimination and they benefitted all but this aspect did not receive enough attention.

“I want every AMU student to take note of it,” urged the Prime Minister.

He said there was a time when school dropout rate among Muslim girls was more than 70%.

“Muslim girls dropping out of schools like this has always been a big stumbling block in the progress of the community but for the last seventy years, the situation was like this only. Seventy percent Muslim girls were not able to finish their schooling,” said Prime Minister Modi.

He said the Clean India Mission was started under these circumstances and toilets were constructed across the villages.

Prime Minister Modi said the government especially constructed toilets for school going girls under the mission mode which brought down the school dropout rate of Muslim girls from 70% to nearly 30%.

“Earlier, millions of Muslim daughters used to drop out of schools due to lack of toilets,” he told the audience. “Now the situation is changing. The Centre is making every effort to bring down the school dropout rate of Muslim daughters.”

Praising the Aligarh Muslim University’s role in increasing the participation of female students, the Prime Minister said that the university has been running a bridge course for those students who dropped out of schools and due to these steps, the number of female students in the AMU has gone up to more than one third.

“The government is focused on the education of Muslim daughters and their empowerment. The government has granted scholarships to nearly 1 crore Muslims girls in the last six years,” said the Prime Minister.

AMU's founder chancellor was a woman

While reminding the students of Aligarh Muslim University’s founder chancellor Begum Sultan, Prime Minister Modi said it was one of the priorities of founding the university to ensure that there should not be any discrimination on the basis of gender and everyone should get equal rights and benefits of the country’s developments.

“Even today AMU is proud of the fact that Begum Sultan was its founder chancellor. We can imagine the importance of taking this step 100 years ago,” he said.

“Today, by abolishing the unjust custom of triple talaq, the country has taken forward the efforts of building a modern Muslim society which was started at that time,” the Prime Minister noted.

Prime Minister Modi said it is correct to say that if a woman is educated then an entire family becomes educated but it goes beyond just educating the family.

“Women must be educated so that they can properly utilise their rights, so that they can determine their future,” said the Prime Minister.

Urging the university administration to ensure higher education for female students, the Prime Minister said: “Education brings employment and entrepreneurship, these two bring economic independence which brings empowerment.”

“An empowered woman contributes equally in every decision at every level like others, be it an issue of giving direction to the family or to the country,” observed the Prime Minister.