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₹3L-cr allocated to welfare schemes for women, girls
Sitharaman also said that partnerships would be created to organise women-specific skilling programmes in India
To promote the participation of women in the workforce, the government will set up working women’s hostels and creches, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the budget in Parliament on Tuesday.
In her budget speech, she announced the allocation of ₹3 trillion for schemes benefiting women and girls. She said that her government is committed to all-round, all-pervasive and all-inclusive development of people, particularly, farmers, youth, women and the poor.
“We will facilitate higher participation of women in the workforce by setting up working women hostels in collaboration with industries and the establishment of creches,” she said.
Sitharaman also said that partnerships would be created to organise women-specific skilling programmes in India.
“To promote women-led development, the budget carries an allocation of more than ₹3 lakh crore for schemes benefitting women and girls. This signals our government’s commitment for enhancing women’s role in economic development,” she said.
Earlier in January, the central government had launched an inter-ministerial efforts to push for greater female participation in the workforce, with an advisory for employers to promote women’s participation by enforcing statutory provisions, release of the national minimum standards and protocol for creches, focus on building more working women’s hostels, and a short public survey on facilities available for women at workplaces.
According to the budget document, the budget outlay for the ministry of women and child development (WCD) has seen a marginal increase of 2.5 % to ₹26,092.19 crore from ₹25,448.68 crore in revised estimate for 2023-24.
The SAMARTHYA sub-scheme, supporting projects such as women’s hostels, Swadhar Greh and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, has been allocated ₹2,516 crore, a slight increase from revised budget of ₹2,325 crore last year.
According to the budget document, a large part of the allocated budget of the WCD ministry is directed towards centrally sponsored schemes, which received ₹25,848 crore.
Experts welcomed the budget’s focus on women. “The announcement in the budget regarding the development of hostels and creches in the PPP model is in line with the CII’s recommendations on creating a supportive ecosystem for migrant workforce and women to enter the workforce,” said Arvind Goel, co-chairperson, CII National Committee on Industrial Relations and Chairman, Tata Autocomp.
