VIJAYAWADA: With an objective to ensure women empowerment and livelihood to six lakh women on a permanent basis through the YSR Cheyutha scheme, the State government exchanged MoUs with 14 companies. Officials exchanged papers in the presence of the Ministers' Committee comprising Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy (Panchayat Raj and Rural Development), Botcha Satyanarayana (Municipal Administration and Urban Development) K Kannababu (Agriculture) and Seediri Appala Raju (Animal Husbandry) at a programme held in the Panchayat Raj Commissioner’s office at Tadepalli on Monday.
The State government, through the MoUs, wants to create a conducive business environment with end-to-end solutions consisting of capital support, market linkages, skill enhancement and technical support, thereby empowering women and ensuring a sustainable income both at the individual and collective level. The firms that exchanged MoUs with the State government departments are Ajio Business (part of Reliance Retail Ltd), Grameena Vikas Kendram Society for Rural Development, Mahindra Top Greenhouses Pvt Ltd and Kheyti Tech Pvt Ltd, Tanager, Institute of Rural Management Anand, Basix (Bharatiya Samruddhi Investments and Consulting Services Ltd) Gian (Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network), FDRVC ( Foundation for Development of Rural Value Chains), Nerds and Geeks Pvt Ltd, an e-Commerce platform, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Voluntary Association for People Service (VAPS), AP Food Processing Society, AP Rythu Sadhikara Samstha and National Institute for MSME.
Speaking on the occasion, the ministers asserted that the government was taking all measures to develop women as entrepreneurs in the areas they are residing in, with the financial support of the government. Saying that the government provides Rs 75,000 each to the eligible women in four instalments, the ministers said that Rs 8,000 crore has been given to 24 lakh women in two instalments so far under the YSR Cheyutha scheme. Earlier, the government entered into agreements with six prominent companies.