From establishing an association at the university to taking up the charge as first full-time defence minister, at every stage of her life Nirmala Sitaraman has proved her mark. Being born in a progressive Tamilian Family, she was always free spirited in nature. Growing up in a family like that is one of the major factors in carving her strong personality. She was not even one incident where she held back from speaking what is right.
The quest for bringing out what is right begun during her college times in "Jawaharlal Nehru University". She started an association called ‘The Free Thinkers’ where they derived and supported the good intentions regardless of their political orientation. This experience made her stand out from others when she worked as the spokesperson of BJP in 2010. An interesting fact is that this is where she met her husband, Parakala Prabhakar Gaaru who currently holds a cabinet position from Andhra Pradesh and also works as the Communication adviser. They both met in 'The Free Thinkers' Association. as their interests lie in the same aspects they soon decided to get married. After that, she went on to the UK to work with "BBC World Service".
Her work towards society and politics started after she came back to India. She returned to her home in Hyderabad and started a school called ‘Pranava’, which soon became famous for their innovative ways in teaching. This paved way for her to enter Women’s Commission. During the time she worked for Women Commission, she granted equal positions for women in various sectors and also stressed the importance of having more women in decision making positions.
Her actual political career started when she joined the Modi’s government in 2014. Until then she was working as one of the six spokes persons under Ravi Shankar Prasad for Bharatiya Janatha Party. She joined the ministry in 2014 as Ministry of Commerce & Industry, as well as a Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs which fall under the Ministry of Finance headed by Arun Jaitley. She also contested and won a by election to Rajya Sabha from the state of Andhra Pradesh. On September 3rd, she swore as the first full-time Defence minister of India. She is the second lady to look into defence after Indira Gandhi. After her appointment, former defence minister Arun Jaitley himself opined that he has the most competent successor.
From a collusive China-Pakistan threat to critical operational gaps in India’s military capabilities, from a poor indigenous defence production sector to lack of higher defence management reforms, Nirmala Sitharaman will have to tackle them all. Now at the times of desperately-needed reforms in the country’s higher defence management, a person like Nirmala Sitaraman is leaving no stones unturned to build a strong defence industrial base. We surely need more women like Nirmala Sitaraman, to make us and our country proud by their proficient works. The lady should be taken as an inspiration for earning her way through every bit. We welcome this decision and hope that this stands as the beginning of many more progressive changes to come.
