Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced in her interim budget that the government has enhanced the target of 'Lakhpati Didis' the self help group workers who earn sustainable income of at least one lakh rupees a year.
"83 lakh SHGs with nine crore women are transforming rural socio-economic landscape with empowerment and self-reliance. Their success has assisted nearly 1 crore women to become lakhpati didi already. Buoyed by the success, it has been decided to enhance the target of lakhpati didi from 2 crore to 3 crore," the minister told parliament in her budget speech.
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What is ‘Lakhpati Didi’ initiative?
During his Independence Day speech last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme to provide skill development training to 20 million women in villages across the country.
Under this scheme, the women would be trained in skills like plumbing, LED bulb making and operating and repairing drones.
“Today there should be women self-help groups, with the aim of my 2 crore Lakhpati Didi, today we are working on women self-help groups. We, while promoting the potential of our women power, women-led development and when I have taken forward the topics of women-led development in G-20, the whole G-20 group is accepting its importance and accepting its importance,” the prime minister had said in his speech from the ramparts of Red Fort.
Key budget announcements on women
The other budget announcements in Nirmala Sitharaman's speech included extending healthcare insurance cover under Ayushman Bharat scheme to all anganwadi and ASHA workers.
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is the largest publicly funded health insurance scheme in the world that provides coverage of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
On empowering women, the minister said,"Female enrolment in higher education up by 28% in 10 years, in STEM courses, girls & women make 43% of enrolment, one of the highest in the world. All these steps are reflected in the increasing participation of women in the workforce. Making triple talaq illegal, reservation of 1/3 seats for women in Parliament and state assemblies, over 70 % houses under PM Awas Yojana to women have increased their dignity."
The other budget announcements in Nirmala Sitharaman's speech included extending healthcare insurance cover under Ayushman Bharat scheme to all anganwadi and ASHA workers.
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is the largest publicly funded health insurance scheme in the world that provides coverage of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
On empowering women, the minister said,"Female enrolment in higher education up by 28% in 10 years, in STEM courses, girls & women make 43% of enrolment, one of the highest in the world. All these steps are reflected in the increasing participation of women in the workforce. Making triple talaq illegal, reservation of 1/3 seats for women in Parliament and state assemblies, over 70 % houses under PM Awas Yojana to women have increased their dignity."