ONGOLE: Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday launched 16 schemes to promote women’s welfare, empowerment, and safety, marking International Women’s Day.
These initiatives included a transformative plan to turn lakhs of women into entrepreneurs through self-employment and financial opportunities in the SERP, MEPMA, and MSME sector.
A detailed brochure and roadmap were released to create sustainable livelihoods in agriculture, manufacturing, services, and business, with an action plan to support 10,000 women in MSMEs during 2025-26. To enhance safety, Naidu introduced the Sakthi Teams, dedicated units to prevent harassment, curb crimes, and assist women and children in public spaces.
In the handloom sector, he launched handloom rathams (vans) costing Rs 60 lakh each—one per district—to market products, distributed free yarn for 36 sarees per woman weaver, and initiated the provision of free sewing machines and tailoring training to 1.5 lakh women. A digital milestone was achieved with the WowGenie app, selling over one lakh DWCRA (Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas) products for Rs 5.13 crore under the ‘for Women, to Women, and by Women’ initiative, earning a Guinness World Record. Economically, urban women (7,471) received bank loans worth Rs 645.52 crore (Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh each), while 1.43 lakh rural women got Rs 1,826 crore in productive loans.
An additional Rs 1,000 crore was dispersed via Stree Nidhi Samshtha. Strategic partnerships bolstered these efforts.
An MoU with Flipkart will market DWCRA products, while Catalyst Management Services and the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation will provide business training and support agro-based value chains, respectively.
The Centre for Collective Development will procure organic products, and Gatos Cafe will train women for small-scale hotel ventures. Home Triangle signed an MoU to support 18,515 service providers such as electricians and beauticians with training and ensure monthly incomes of Rs 15,000–Rs 35,000.
Rapido waived fees for women drivers earning over Rs 30,000 monthly, and 1,000 electric vehicles (760 e-bikes, 240 e-autos) were distributed to women riders.
The Araku coffee industry gained momentum with Nature Araku Coffee facilitating bank loans to expand globally and establish 100 outlets, creating jobs for DWCRA women.
On the welfare front, gratuity benefits were announced for 55,607 Anganwadi workers (Rs 1.79–Rs 2.32 lakh each) and 48,909 helpers (Rs 1.09–Rs 1.41 lakh each), costing Rs 17.73 crore annually.
Retired or deceased Asha workers from June 2024 received Rs 1.90 crore in dues. Under the PM-Viswakarma scheme, 1,000 women were sanctioned loans of up to Rs 1 lakh each.