NEW DELHI: In its last full budget of the second term, the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday announced measures aiming at women empowerment, with Mahila Samman Savings Certificate, a one-time small savings scheme, being one of the significant announcements.
While presenting the budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that for commemorating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate would be made available for a two-year period up to March 2025. Under the scheme, one can make deposit up to Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for a tenure of two years at fixed interest rate of 7.5% with partial withdrawal option.
She also said that for the economic empowerment of women under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihood Mission, 81 lakh self-help groups have been created by mobilising rural women.
“We will enable these groups to reach the next stage of economic empowerment through the
formation of large producer enterprises or collectives, with each having several thousand members. They will be helped with supply of raw materials and for better design, quality, branding and marketing of their products.
Through supporting policies, they will be enabled to scale up their operations to serve the large consumer markets, as has been the case with several start-ups growing into ‘Unicorns’,” said the minister. Financial assistance of more than Rs 2.25 lakh crore has been provided to small farmers under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi. About 3 crore women farmers have been provided Rs 54,000 crore under the scheme, Sitharaman added.
The budget allocated to the Women and Child Development Ministry, the nodal department of the government for the welfare of women and children, stood at Rs 25,448.75 crore in 2023-24, marking an increase of Rs 267 crore from Rs 25,172.28 crore allocated in 2022-23.
For the ministry, the largest allocation has been for the Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 (Umbrella ICDS – Anganwadi Services, Poshan Abhiyan, Scheme for Adolescent Girls) of Rs 20,554.31 crore. Mission VATSALYA (Child Protection Services and Child Welfare Services) has been allotted Rs 1,472 crore and allocation for Mission Shakti (Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women) is Rs 3,143 crore in 2023-24, a dip from Rs 3,184 crore in 2022-23.
The budget allocation for autonomous bodies is Rs 168 crore, a marginal increase from Rs 162 crore in the earlier budget. These autonomous bodies include Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and National Commission for Women.
The minister further said that PM Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman (PM VIKAS) scheme
for the artisans and craftspersons of the country would greatly benefit the women, besides Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and other people belonging to the weaker sections.
For the first time, a package of assistance for artisans and craftsmen has been conceptualised.
The new scheme will enable them to improve the quality, scale and reach of their products, integrating them with the MSME value chain. “The components of the scheme will include not only financial support but also access to advanced skill training, knowledge of modern digital techniques and efficient green technologies, brand promotion, linkage with local and global markets, digital payments, and social security,” said Sitharaman.
WCD ministry gets Rs 25,448 crore
The budget allocated to the Women and Child Development Ministry stood at Rs 25,448.75 crore in 2023-24, marking an increase of Rs 267 crore from Rs 25,172.28 crore allocated in 2022-23. The largest allocation has been for Anganwadi Services, Poshan Abhiyan, and Scheme for Adolescent Girls