On
the occasion of the 77th Independence day on Aug.15, 2023,
Honourable PM Shri Narendra Modi emphasized that women- led development is
essential to take the nation forward. Since 2014, the Government has been
continuously taking multiple steps for the welfare of women and launching several
initiatives to make them the major participants in the development process. Women-led
development has become the mantra and a top priority agenda for the
Government during the last nine years.
To
achieve the objective, the Government has introduced many new and innovative schemes
in different fields. From construction of toilets, to providing tapped water at
homes, constructing houses in their names, providing gas connections, getting
them into the banking system, making them fly fighter plans and facilitating
them to be part of the decision- making process, we have been witnessing different types of initiatives
being implemented with a mission- mode.
As
a result, women have become the major beneficiaries of various Government
welfare programmes and incentives. There are several schemes to build their
capacities in different fields such as nutrition, health and education. When we
take nutrition for example, POSHAN Abhiyan is improving the key nutrition
parameters of women and children, while the PM Matru Vandana Yojana is enhancing
the nutritional needs of pregnant women and lactating mothers.
There
are special schemes for women to make them employable and get into
entrepreneurship. Self-employment of women is promoted through STEP scheme.
Stand Up India facilitates loans up to one crore for at least one woman in every
bank branch of all scheduled banks for setting up green field projects.
As
a result, we are witnessing a historic change in the lives of women in the
country. A study undertaken by Ministry of Jal Sakthi in collaboration with
UNICEF and others on the performance of Swachh Bharat Mission revealed how the
lives of women have transformed drastically after the construction of toilets
in their homes. The study titled ‘Access to Toilets and the Safety, Convenience
and Self-respect of Women in Rural India’ (2020) states after six years of implementation
of the scheme, 91 percent of the women reported that they were able to save up
to one hour and do not have to travel up to a kilometer for defecation. Besides
88 percent of them reported that having a toilet at home has increased their
pride, besides improving health and increasing safety.
Moreover,
there is a huge transformation in empowering women, which had never happened
earlier. Now girls constitute 43 percent of STEM education stream of students. A
record number of 28.29 crore women have become the beneficiaries through Jan
Dhan Yojana for the first time in their lives. This number is more than 55
percent of the total beneficiaries. Among the beneficiaries of the MUDRA Yojana
around 70 percent are women, enabling them to become entrepreneurs.
The importance that the PM gives to women-led
development could be understood from the fact that he underlined his
Government’s approach even at the international level. In his video message at the
G-20 Ministerial Conference on Women Empowerment, PM noted that ‘Women-led
development in India is our main priority’ and mentioned that when women prosper,
the World prospers. Besides, the economic empowerment of women was at the heart
of India’s G-20 Agenda.
Since
the ancient periods, Indian civilization has always nurtured and respected
women power. That is the reason why we have had scholars and leaders of
exceptional expertise in different parts of the country over several centuries.
Field studies reveal that in the contemporary India, women play the critical
role in driving the cultural and economic systems, apart from being the backbone
of our family system.
Our
PM’s initiatives to give the mothers, sisters and daughters of India the required
impetus are not just make the development process more inclusive, but to make
it complete, besides enabling it to move at a much faster pace. With the
sustained efforts of the Government over the last nine years, the results are there
before us to see. Surely a historic transformation is taking place before our
us in Independent India. Let us all celebrate it.
(Editorial,
The Nationalist, Sept-Oct, 2023, New Delhi)
