Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], March 15 (ANI): Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma said that women have an important role in building strong and developed countries. The journey of development is incomplete without the participation of half the population.

The Chief Minister was addressing the inauguration program of Shakti Vandan India's Self's Honor Festival at Jawahar Kala Kendra on Saturday.

He said that in our eternal culture, there is a tradition of worshiping Maa Durga for Shakti, Maa Lakshmi for wealth and Mother Saraswati for wisdom.

Sharma said that the Shakti Vandan Festival is a symbol of significant contribution in our women's empowerment efforts.

Our government is working with commitment to provide development -oriented environment to women in the state, the CM said as per a release.

He said that Lokmata Ahilyabai has left a permanent heritage from her life and actions. He developed Maheshwar saree to the world by developing the local handloom industry in Maheshwar to make women self -reliant. She was a courageous warrior competent administrator and dedicated patron of eternal culture.

The Chief Minister said that the state government was also striving for the upliftment of Vandya and glorious Sanatan culture.

The Chief Minister said that the famous Prime Minister of the country, Narendra Modi believed in the progress and progress of half the population. The festival is an important part of the Prime Minister's efforts to promote local products, to make women self -sufficient and revive extinct arts under the Wocal for Local Campaign.

The Chief Minister said that, after 2014, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the country's faith centers are developing rapidly.

The CM said our mythological religious places are being uplifted to eternal culture by returning their divine and grand form. The state government is also getting the renovation work done on the state sites.

The Chief Minister further said that the double-engine government was working fast for women's empowerment, health, and social upliftment.

Our goal is to make women self -reliant. We are connecting them with self-employment by giving various types of training to women associated with self-help groups through Rajivika, the CM said.

He said that several steps had also been taken by the state government to provide markets to the products prepared by these women. Recently, on the auspicious occasion of Holi, the government encouraged them by purchasing herbal gulal prepared by mothers and sisters of self-help groups.

Earlier, the Chief Minister lit the lamp and launched the three-day 'Nari Shakti Vandan Bharat Ki Abhinandan' festival.

He wrote a message for the entrepreneur women in the book Shakti Vandan.

Sharma also visited the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar exhibition organized by the Jaipur Municipal Corporation Greater and appreciated the reuse and recycle-based products of the exhibition.

On this occasion, Soumya Gurjar, Mayor of Municipal Corporation Jaipur Greater, presented the statue of Ahilyabai Holkar to the Chief Minister. Jaipur MP Mrs. Manju Sharma and public representatives, self-help groups attached to self-help groups and a large number of other women were present in the program. (ANI)