PM Modi asks BJP's women MPs to focus on health, sanitation, eradicating malnutrition

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met women MPs of the BJP over breakfast at his residence and said they should focus on health, sanitation and eradicating malnutrition. More than 30 MPs attended the meeting, speaking at length and sharing their views on various issues with their prime minister, sources said.

Prime minister listened to them patiently and said every woman MP is an institution in herself, disclosed one of the women who attended the interaction. Being women, he said, they have excellent soft skills that can help them connect effectively with the public, the sources added. Modi advised the women MPs of his party to focus on health, sanitation and eradicating malnutrition among children.

Friday's meeting is the fifth in the series of meetings with a cross-section of parliamentarians from the party. The party's MPs have been divided into seven groups and Modi has already met party parliamentarians belonging to the OBC, SC and ST categories, young MPs and those who were ministers once, sources said.

The meetings have been planned so BJP MPs from both the houses get an opportunity to directly interact with the prime minister, who can guide them and discuss various issues, especially related to Parliament, a BJP leader said.

These meetings are in the nature of introductory meetings, party insiders said. In his meeting with young MPs recently, Modi said they should involve themselves in doing social work because people appreciate that more than hard-core politics. Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also the BJP president, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi are the only Union ministers who are part of these meetings.

The party's working president J P Nadda also attends. During the 16th Lok Sabha, the prime minister met MPs from various states in every session of Parliament, where he spoken to them about the government's agenda. The newly elected 17th Lok Sabha has 78 women MPs, the highest since independence. Of these, 41 are from the BJP.

-PTI