“Women Have To Prove Themselves Three Times More Than Men To Receive Same Recognition”: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

In a recent interview, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that women often work three times harder than men to gain recognition. 

"School, college, board, army, media—wherever women are, they have to prove themselves three times more than men just to receive the same recognition. This is true everywhere. Life is unfair. You have to build your inner strength," the Minister remarked in the exclusive interview with Times Network Group Editor-in-Chief, Navika Kumar.

FM speaks about the hurdles of professional women

She commented that unfairness is a part of life.

"Life is unfair. Unfairness will always be there,” Sitharaman said. “You have to build your inner strength,” she advised. 

When the interviewer asked if she had ever shared these frustrations with the Prime Minister, the Union Minister said, "PM se kabhi koi baatcheet nahi hui ispe... colleague se share nahi kiya. Usse kya hoga? That one hour with me will become... unpleasant. Usse kya hoga?" she reasoned for preferring to handle these challenges independently.

When asked if the tax relief was linked to elections, the Finance Minister denied.

"After doing a lot of work, we introduced this relief,”  Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shared in the interview. PM Modi wanted to do something for taxpayers, to honour them. Since 2022, he has been urging this. The Prime Minister has always guided us to provide tax relief to the taxpayers. We are working towards this goal to respect taxpayers. This is just one of those steps. There was no last-minute calculation involved. The relief for taxpayers is not linked to elections. We will continue to honour the taxpayer."

In the 2025 Union budget, the finance minister gave a big break to the middle class by declaring "no taxes up to 12 lakhs." Sitharaman has announced big perks for Bihar, startups, and agricultural reforms. The finance minister also waived the customs duty on lifesaving drugs.

"We have heard the voice of the middle class," Sitharaman said in an interview with PTI, acknowledging the concerns of middle-class taxpayers. 

Also read: “Room Here to Build a Really Large Brand,” Nikhil Kamath’s Rs 6,000 Cr Idea Gets Govt Stamp as FM Sitharaman Announces ‘Makhana Board’ (startuppedia.in)