Chennai, Mar 8 (Reporter) Tamil Nadu Governor R. N. Ravi on Friday paid floral tributes to the portrait of Avvaiyar, the great Tamil poetess, saint, and icon of women's leadership, at the Avvaiyar statue at Raj Bhavan on the occasion of Women’s Day. In his address, Governor Ravi underscored Avvaiyar's legacy as a beacon of women's leadership. He said "we are paying tribute to all our mothers, sisters, and women leaders in every walk of life. On this day, we reaffirm our commitment to creating an inclusive, equitable, and safe environment for women." Reflecting on transformative shifts in policies, the Governor highlighted the paradigm shift under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said after Mr Modi came, he fundamentally changed the Nation's outlook and policy towards women. "From empty slogans of women empowerment, we move to women-led development and governance. Numerous measures and initiatives have been taken such as ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ (save the daughters, educate the daughters), building toilets in every school, college, and institution and the result is we have far more girls in our schools, colleges, and high research institutions today", Mr Ravi said. "Their enrollment has significantly gone up, and in many places, we have more girls, students, and researchers than boys. Women's health has been a priority. There are several measures to ensure that our women, daughters, infants, mothers, and sisters are healthy", he added. The Governor highlighted the significant strides made in financial inclusion and entrepreneurship. For financial inclusion, over 50 Crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened, and women account holders are more than half. To encourage and harness women entrepreneurship, over 40 Crore beneficiaries of Mudra Loan have taken loans to start their own small or medium enterprises, receiving over Rs 23 lakhs crore. Almost half of them are women. Nearly one crore twenty lakh homes for the homeless have been built and are being built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Prime Minister's Residential Housing Scheme) for the homeless. In every home, the co-owner is a woman. She is not just a resident of the house but the owner of the house. The abolition of Triple Talaq has restored dignity to our Muslim sisters and mothers. Today, our women are playing an equal role in every aspect of life. They are sending missions to the moon, to the sun. Our women military pilots are flying fighter jets. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, Women Reservation Act, 2023 (the Constitution (106th Amendment Act, 2023), ensuring greater representation of women in parliament and state assemblies. They will have a greater role in law making, he said. The Governor reaffirmed the Nation's resolve to achieve full development and self-reliance by 2047, with women playing a pivotal role in shaping the country's future. He said this National dream is being fulfilled with equal partnership of women in development and governance. With commitment, we are fulfilling Mahakavi Bharatiyar’s dream. He cited revolutionary poet Mahakavi Bharathiyar's lines "Pattangal aalvathum sattangal seivathum Paarinil pengal nadatha vanthom" which says Women have come to rule scholastically and to create laws in this world...////...