Sitharaman urges women students to embrace AI and financial literacy

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, 26 October 2026 urged women students to develop financial literacy, acquire new skills and learn to use artificial intelligence. Addressing the platinum jubilee celebrations of Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College in Tiruchirappalli, she said education must translate into greater opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship and leadership. Fortune India reports she stressed that women must understand how to manage their money in bank accounts, fixed deposits and the stock market, and urged students to learn how to use emerging technologies as AI reshapes the workplace.

The Hindu reports she advised students to set no ceiling on their ambitions and said nearly half of India's start-ups already have women directors or partners. She recalled her own years as a student at the college and praised the institution's Centre for Therapeutic Music, launched in 2024. Citing the All India Survey on Higher Education, she said the female gross enrolment ratio had exceeded that of men for the seventh consecutive year. She also noted that about two-thirds of Mudra loans had gone to women and that three crore rural women had become Lakhpati Didis, with the national target raised to six crore.

Sitharaman urged the college to expand research capabilities and collaborate with institutions such as the National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli and Bharathidasan University. She earlier inaugurated the platinum jubilee exhibition and released a souvenir.