New Delhi [India], August 14 : President Droupadi Murmu in her address to the country on the eve of the 79th Independence Day lauded the achievements of Indian women across fields, from defence to sports, citing the success of a 19-year-old and a 38-year-old finalist in the FIDE Women's World Cup as proof of excellence across generations.
Recently, 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh conquered the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025, beating her counterpart Koneru Humpy. Divya became just the fourth Indian woman grandmaster and overall the 88th in the nation to clinch that title.
"Our daughters are our pride. They are breaching barriers in every field, including in the areas of defence and security. Sports are among the important indicators of excellence, empowerment and potential. A nineteen-year-old girl and a thirty-eight-year-old woman from India were the finalists in the FIDE Women's World Chess Championship. This underlines the sustained and globally comparable excellence across generations among our women," she said.
President Murmu said the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' has turned women's empowerment from a slogan into a reality, with the gender gap in employment steadily narrowing.
"The gender gap in employment has also been reducing. With 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', the empowerment of women is no longer a slogan but a reality," she emphasised.
The President also praised the Government for targeted initiatives that have enabled Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, and other communities to shed the tag of marginalised, helping them realise their social and economic aspirations.
"People belonging to a major segment of our society comprising Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and other communities are shedding the tag of the marginalised. The Government has been actively helping them to realise their social and economic aspirations with several initiatives," President Murmu said.
"India is moving ahead at a faster pace towards realizing its true potential. As our reforms and policies have created an effective platform, I can see a bright future ahead in which every one of us will be energetically contributing to the prosperity and happiness of all of us," she said.
President Droupadi Murmu reaffirmed the nation's commitment to good governance and zero tolerance for corruption, invoking Mahatma Gandhi's words that "corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy," and urging citizens to pledge to eradicate the menace.
"Let us pledge to realise Gandhiji's ideal and weed out corruption," she said.