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'Naari Tu Narayani': Centre allocates Rs 29,000 crore for WCD Ministry in Union Budget 2019, 17% more than last year

WCD Minister Smriti Irani took to Twitter to praise the Budget, saying it will give further impetus to the mission of women-led development.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaking in Lok Sabha
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday allocated a sum of Rs 29,000 crore for the Women and Child Development Ministry for the next fiscal, a 17 per cent increase over the 2018-2019 financial year. The ministry has witnessed a 17% increase over the 2018-2019 financial year with the social services sector getting a major boost in the Budget announced on Friday.

The total amount allocated for the social services sector, which includes nutrition and social security and welfare, was enhanced from Rs 2,551 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 4,178 crore in the fiscal 2019-20.

The Centre's programmes of maternity benefit and child protection services also got a major boost in the Budget.

Quoting Vivekananda, Sitharaman in her maiden budget speech said, "Swami Vivekananda in a letter to Swami Ramakrishnanda had said: “There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing”. This Government believes that we can make progress with greater women’s participation."

She also highlighted that there are 78 women MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha. "This reinforces our approach of going beyond just women-centric-policy making to building women-led initiatives and movements," Sitharaman, who became the first full-time Finance Minister to present a budget said. 

The allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), a maternity benefit programme, was more than doubled to Rs 2,500 crore from Rs 1,200 crore. Under the programme, Rs 6,000 is given to pregnant women and lactating mothers for the birth of the first living child.

The allocation for the Child Protection Services programme under the Integrated Child Development Services was increased to Rs 1,500 crore from Rs 925 crore.

A sum of Rs 29,164.90 crore has been earmarked for the WCD Ministry for the next financial year, a 17 per cent increase over Rs 24,758.62 crore allocated to it last year. A major chunk of the sum, Rs 19,834.37 crore, is for anganwadi services.

WCD Minister Smriti Irani took to Twitter to praise the Budget, saying it will give further impetus to the mission of women-led development.

"I thank PM @narendramodi ji & FM @nsitharaman ji for proposing first ever Broad-based Committee to assess budgetary allocation from gender perspective and suggest way forward. It will give further impetus to our mission of Women-led Development," she said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' will get Rs 280 crore in the current financial year.

The National Nutrition Mission, which strives to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low-birth weight babies and aims to benefit 10 crore people across the country, was allocated Rs 3,400 crore.

The allocation for the Mahila Shakti Kendras has been increased from Rs 115 crore to Rs 150 crore.

The total allocation for the centrally sponsored schemes was Rs 28,914 crore, a boost of Rs 4,400 crore from the last fiscal.

The allocation for the National Creche Scheme was also enhanced from Rs 30 crore to Rs 50 crore, which will enable working women to safely leave their children in creches while they are away at work.

Similarly, the allocation for Working Women's Hostel scheme saw an increase of over three times from Rs 52 crore to Rs 165 crore.

On the issue of providing safety for all women, the budget for Ujjawala, a scheme for prevention of trafficking, rescue and rehabilitation of the victims, has been increased from Rs 20 crore to Rs 30 crore.

Similarly, the budget for widows' homes was increased from Rs 8 crore to Rs 15 crore.

Effectively, the total budget under the Mission for Protection and Empowerment of Women was increased from Rs 1,148 crore to Rs 1,315 crore. 

'Naari Tu Narayani': Sitharaman on women in Budget speech

Swami Vivekananda in a letter to Swami Ramakrishnanda had said: “There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on one wing”. This Government believes that we can make progress with greater women’s participation.

In India’s growth story, particularly in the rural economy, “grameen arth vyavastha” the role of women is a very sweet story. This Government wishes to encourage and facilitate this role of women.

Gender analysis of the budget aimed at examining the budgetary allocation through a gender lens has been in place for over a decade. I propose to form a broad-based Committee with Government and private stakeholders to evaluate and suggest action for moving forward. 

There is no segment of human life where the contribution of women is not significant. This Government firmly believes that the socioeconomic transformation that is taking place particularly in the last decade, Indian women’s role and leadership is distinct. The recent elections have shown record turnout of women voters at par with men.

We also have a record 78 women MPs here. This reinforces our approach of going beyond just women-centric-policy making to building women-led initiatives and movements.

This Government has supported and encouraged women entrepreneurship through various schemes such as MUDRA, Stand UP India and the Self Help Group (SHG) movement. In order to further encourage women enterprise, I propose to expand the Women SHG interest subvention programme to all districts. Furthermore, for every verified women SHG member having a Jan Dhan Bank Account, an overdraft of 5,000 shall be allowed. One woman in every SHG will also be made eligible for a loan up to 1 lakh under the MUDRA Scheme.

(With PTI inputs) 

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