‘It is not rigidity.’
‘I am just sticking to what I believe very strongly in, particularly if you have been given an opportunity to serve the country….’
IMAGE: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs North-East Conclave 2025 at IIM Shillong, July 11, 2025. Photograph: @PIBShillong X/ANI Photo
In a rare conversation about her personal life, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that one of her core values which may be mistaken by some as being rigid, is simply sticking to what she feels strongly about.
She was speaking with entrepreneur Mark Laitflang Stone in the greens of Ward’s Lake in Shillong during her recent visit to Meghalaya, where she opened up about her journey from being an educator to a minister.
“People sometimes ask me why you have to be so rigid on this, so rigid on that. It is not rigidity. I am just sticking to what I believe very strongly in, particularly if you have been given an opportunity to serve the country… I don’t do any explaining,” she said.
The finance minister spoke about her days of being one of the founders of a school in Hyderabad, much before she became a politician and how even now those who knew her then shout out ‘Nirmala Ma’am’. “Those were my most satisfying times,” the finance minister added.
Sitharaman said she entered the education space in the early years of her daughter’s schooling. “It became a routine in the family and they said why don’t you run a school…And I said why not,” she said.
The minister talked about her experience as an educator when she ensured that special-needs children were in the same class and had taken her students on trips to Tibet, Himachal Pradesh, and Gujarat.
IMAGE: Nirmala Sitharaman addresses the CII Global Capability Centre Summit in New Delhi, July 14, 2025. Photograph: Rahul Singh/ANI Photo
Sitharaman also spoke about the enthusiasm of her team and how they often recast her priorities and objectives to be approached in a different way.
She said that her team was conscious about the difficult position of being part of the government as it comes with its limitations.
“Yet it gives you that kind of an opportunity which can open an entire world for some sections of the people. I depend on my team for my performance. I will never hesitate to recognise them,” Sitharaman said.
The minister also spoke about how the youth of the North East does not recognise any challenge as a hindrance.
‘Hindrance is only when they have to go far away from home to seek what they can otherwise seek at home.”
She said that every Northe East state sees an opportunity not just in building roads and bridges but also a material advantage in giving its youth opportunity and the right skills.
“The dividend they have placed on making youth a big catalyst is showing in both the enthusiasm of the youth and the government saying that is the best way. That I see is common in all the eight states,” she said.
The FM said the government has made a relentless effort to connect the North East within itself and the rest of the country.
“Digitisation has opened up avenues for the North East with ONDC, etcetera, giving a window to reach products to a larger audience which was not there before.”
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
