Central plans offer women opportunities: Harsh Vardhan

Chennai, Oct 16 : Union Minister of Science & Technology Harsh Vardhan on Monday said two central programmes -- Start-up India and Stand-up India -- offer opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

Speaking at the Women Scientist and Entrepreneurs Conclave at the "India International Science Festival - 2017" here, he said the two schemes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered tremendous opportunities to women entrepreneurs.

Vardhan said women entrepreneurship had been growing fast over the last few years in the country.

He also said the Department of Science and Technology and Department of Biotechnology had special schemes to attract women scientists and to provide employment opportunities to the unemployed women scientists.

According to him, Indian women have had a major presence in the fields of science and technology, and entrepreneurship fields over the last 100 years.

The first woman to receive a medical doctorate degree was Anandibai Joshee in 1885, the first Indian women Doctorate in Basic Science was Janaki Ammal in 1931 and India's first woman to get a doctorate of science from an Indian university was Asima Chatterjee in 1944, he noted.