“Much to my surprise, not a moment have I been made to feel, 'Alright, a woman - probably the prime minister wanted to make a token gesture.' The ease with which people have taken this thought of a woman minister has been a great strength for me and has made my job far easier.”

Indian economist and politician, born 1959

Nirmala Sitharaman is an Indian economist and politician. Born in 1959, she has served in senior roles in the Indian government and has been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Since 2019, she has served as India’s Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs. From 2017 to 2019, she was Minister of Defence, and in 2016 she was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. Her public work is tied to national economic policy, defence, and corporate affairs.