MPW 2022: 'Don’t put a price tag on public service,' says minister Smriti Irani
'If you talk about politics from the perspective of a vocation, then you would put a price on public service. The fact that you can serve a country of 1.4 billion people is in itself a privilege,' says Smriti Irani
- Mar 29, 2023,
- Updated Mar 29, 2023 10:45 PM IST
Speaking at the Business Today's 'Most Powerful Women in Business' awards event, Smriti Irani, Women and Child Development Minister, said politics was not a profession but an opportunity for public service.
“If you talk about politics from the perspective of a vocation, then you would put a price on public service. The fact that you can serve a country of 1.4 billion people is in itself a privilege,” said Irani.
Saying that she didn’t look at her position as a lawmaker as a privilege, Irani said that given her roots she had to often balance between media and politics.
“I [often] think I belong to the media fraternity. And I oscillated between media and politics. So, rather politics should not be looked upon from a perspective of profit... From a perspective of competition among peers. It should rather it be looked upon as a [platform] where multiple voices can converge for the greater good,” asserted Irani.
On being asked by the managing editor of Business Today, Siddharth Zarabi, as to how she defeated Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi in his own pocket borough of Amethi, Irani said she won the election on her own merit.
“I was sent to [Amethi} because I was the best candidate to give the family a run for their money. And why do I say this? That’s because, in a victory or defeat, we start looking at a subset called gender!”
Irani observed that in this day and age, gender alone couldn’t be a benchmark for a person’s success.
“That’s why I said, “Can you define power? Our perspective towards power is so myopic that we look at it from our own perspective, bank balance and what we have,” observed Irani.
A woman is truly powerful when she makes a decision for herself because several times she is burdened with decision-making, said Irani.
Also Read: MPW 2022: 'WPL will change the perception of women’s cricket,' says Jhulan Goswami
Speaking at the Business Today's 'Most Powerful Women in Business' awards event, Smriti Irani, Women and Child Development Minister, said politics was not a profession but an opportunity for public service.
“If you talk about politics from the perspective of a vocation, then you would put a price on public service. The fact that you can serve a country of 1.4 billion people is in itself a privilege,” said Irani.
Saying that she didn’t look at her position as a lawmaker as a privilege, Irani said that given her roots she had to often balance between media and politics.
“I [often] think I belong to the media fraternity. And I oscillated between media and politics. So, rather politics should not be looked upon from a perspective of profit... From a perspective of competition among peers. It should rather it be looked upon as a [platform] where multiple voices can converge for the greater good,” asserted Irani.
On being asked by the managing editor of Business Today, Siddharth Zarabi, as to how she defeated Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi in his own pocket borough of Amethi, Irani said she won the election on her own merit.
“I was sent to [Amethi} because I was the best candidate to give the family a run for their money. And why do I say this? That’s because, in a victory or defeat, we start looking at a subset called gender!”
Irani observed that in this day and age, gender alone couldn’t be a benchmark for a person’s success.
“That’s why I said, “Can you define power? Our perspective towards power is so myopic that we look at it from our own perspective, bank balance and what we have,” observed Irani.
A woman is truly powerful when she makes a decision for herself because several times she is burdened with decision-making, said Irani.
Also Read: MPW 2022: 'WPL will change the perception of women’s cricket,' says Jhulan Goswami