New Delhi | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that financial empowerment has given greater say in family affairs to women who have been traditionally sidelined, quipping he may not be into "family life" (grihasth) but is aware of its dynamics.

Addressing a women's conference, the Prime Minister said everyone is well aware that to empower women in India, it is essential to increase their economic participation, and hence his government kept this aspect in mind in every decision and scheme it rolled out.

"Earlier, family property was primarily held in the names of men. If there was a house, it was in the man's name; a farm land, in the man's name; a shop, in the man's name; a car, in the man's name; even a scooter was in the man's name, and this was considered natural. Under the 'PM Awas Yojana,' we began prioritising the registration of houses in the names of the women of the household," he said.

In the past 11 years, more than three crore women have become homeowners due to this initiative. "Because of this, women are becoming economically empowered within their households," he said.

Referring to normal household affairs, the Prime Minister said, "Usually when a father and son talk about business, if the mother brings tea and stands there for a while, they say, 'You go back to the kitchen, we are talking'." "I am not into family life, but I know a lot about its dynamics! (Main grihasth nahi hoon, lekin pata bahut hai)," he said, drawing smiles and claps from the audience. "Now that she has become an economic force, even the son says, 'Please call Mummy into the conversation, call her too'," the PM said.

Modi said that when children go to school, the father's name is naturally recorded, but his government stepped in and started the practice that the mother's name will also be written.