AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio News on air. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation.
This article is about the discussion on: Economic Empowerment of Women.
Participants:
- Shankar Iyer, Political & Economic Analyst, and Author
- Arjun J Choudhary, AIR correspondent
Context: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed a post-budget webinar on the Economic Empowerment of Women.
Introduction:
- Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed a post-budget Webinar on the subject of the Economic Empowerment of Women.
- The webinar is one of the twelve planned webinars that intends to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023-24.
- Over the past few years, the government has made tremendous efforts to provide an ecosystem for the Women of India to thrive and develop. For instance, initiatives like Direct Benefit Transfer, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, etc.
- Prime Minister highlighted the importance of cooperative sector and the role of women in cooperative sector.
Three Major aspects for women empowerment in Union Budget 2023-24:
- One of the major aspects is the increased spending on the safety of women in Urban spaces under the Nirbhaya Fund.
- There is also an emphasis on Shelter and the government has expanded the PM Awas Yojana.
- The budget focuses on the aspect of the sustainability of Women by skilling them so that they are able to earn, educate, and sustain their families, thereby empowering themselves.
Also read: Housing For All Scheme | Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY) Eligibility, Application
Measures taken by Government:
- In order to cover the schemes launched by government for the empowerment of women, it is necessary to look at it holistically in different ways.
- Agriculture:
- It should be noted that agriculture and allied activities in India are sustained by women and various efforts have been made in this direction. For instance, the introduction of new schemes, focus on skills, emphasis on the North Eastern region of the country, etc.
- Cooperative Sector:
- Cooperative sector enables women across the country to participate in the economic development of their own families and the overall development of the nation.
- More than 2 lakh multi-purpose cooperatives, dairy cooperatives and fisheries cooperatives will be established in the coming years.
- Swach Bharat Mission:
- It is a sanitation programme that was expanded by the government to ensure safety and security of many women by facilitating toilets in their own compounds.
- Ujjawala Yojana:
- It ensured a smoke free atmosphere in the poorest households by providing LPG cylinders.
- PM Awas Yojana:
- PM Awas Yojana not only promises a house but also registers it the name of the Woman of the household and makes them a stakeholder.
- It is a big leap forward for a society that traditionally ignored women as property holders.
- It was highlighted by the Prime Minister that “80 thousand crore rupees for the scheme is a step in the direction of women empowerment as most of the 3 crore houses are in the name of women”.
- Mudra Loans:
- It was also highlighted during the webinar that 70 percent Mudra loan beneficiaries are women.
- Mudra loans is a huge opportunity at the very base level as a large number of Micro and Small Enterprises are usually family business in small towns and rural areas.
- Mudra loans has the potential to actively encourage women in startups and progress further.
- When Mudra, Open Network for Digital Commerce, and digital payment systems converge, the entrepreneurial skills of women enhances manifold.
- Self Help Groups:
- More than 7 crore women have joined Self Help Groups(SHGs) in the last nine years.
- Their value creation can be understood by their capital requirement. For instance, SHGs have taken loans worth 6.25 lakh crore.
- Apart from creating financial opportunity, SHG increases the participation of women in traditional handicrafts.
- It also provides counselling to women for associated issues.
- It facilitates economic empowerment, which is a predecessor of political empowerment.
- Government e-marketplace (GeM):
- GeM is a dedicated online platform where goods and services can be procured by various organizations and departments under the Government of India, and by the PSUs also.
- Many women have registered on it.
- Moreover, women benefit from schemes for promotion of collateral free loans under SVANidhi and promotion schemes in animal husbandry, fisheries, village industries, FPOs and sports.
Also read: List of Women Empowerment Schemes in India
Educational Benefits for Women:
- It was highlighted that nearly 43% of students enrolled for STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, mathematics) in higher education are women.
- This can be attributed to many factors like decreasing maternal mortality rate, child mortality rate and the total fertility rate. It is suggested that the thought process of Indian society has changed and small families are considered more prosperous and progressive.
- India outperforms many developed economies like USA, UK and Germany in women enrollment in higher education in STEM field.
- This is a great transformation and Indian women are becoming more inclined to technology. This will be highly advantageous in coming decades for the economic and technological advancement of the country.
Also read: GeM: Government e-Marketplace – UPSC Government Schemes Notes for GS2
Employment aspect in Women Empowerment:
- Despite an improvement, more push is required to enhance the Female Labour Force Participation rate.
- There needs to be more legislative and regulatory reforms like flexible timings, and childcare facilities at the premises of the workplace.
- The role of state government is also very crucial to improve the employment rate. For instance,
- The participation of Women in Himachal Pradesh has significantly increased. It has been appreciated by the World Bank.
- In Tamil Nadu, approximately 42% of the workforce in manufacturing sector is made up of women.
Conclusion:
Emphasizing the need for skill development, the Prime Minister further said that Vishwakarma Scheme proposed in the Budget 2023-24 will also play a crucial role and will act as a bridge for women empowerment.
Read previous AIR Spotlight articles in the link.
AIR Spotlight: Economic Empowerment of Women:- Download PDF Here
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