Chandrababu's daughter-in-law Nara Brahmani addresses equal pay at Women's Parliament

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's daughter-in-law Nara Brahmani hogged the limelight at the ongoing first National Women's Parliament here on Saturday.

Brahmani, who is executive director of Heritage Foods, the company owned by the family, took the centre stage on the second day of the three-day conclave being attended by women delegates from India and abroad.

The beautiful businesswoman shared her thoughts on women empowerment, the importance of education to achieve this and eulogized her grandfather late N.T. Rama Rao and father-in-law Chandrababu Naidu for their initiatives to empower women.

While speaking about Amaravati's history, she also referred, albeit indirectly, to 'Gautamiputra Satakarni', the recently released movie of his father N. Balakrishna, a leading actor of Telugu cinema.

She said Amaravati was the city of famous emperor Satakarni.

"He venerated womanhood so much so that instead of the traditional practice of taking father's name, he took mother's name. Gautamiputra Satakarni or son of mother Gautami..." said Brahmani, who is married to her maternal cousin N. Lokesh, only son of Chandrababu Naidu.

The Master of Business Administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business remarked that for them women empowerment starts at home. "Women in our family were always encouraged to pursue their passion," said Brahmani, whose mother-in-law N. Bhuwaneswari is managing director of Heritage Foods.

While stating that India has been blessed with number of visionary leaders, she remarked a"yet we can't close our eyes to disparities and anomalies exist as far as women's issues are concerned".

She said while India elected women heads of government and states much before many developed countries, equal pay for equal work is not given despite stringent laws.

"A recent study shows only five percent women in India make to top leadership positions in corporate sector against global average of 20 per cent," she said.

She believes self-help is the key to women empowerment and urged women to take matters in their hands rather than waiting around endlessly for others to help them.