India’s revolutionary leaps in financial inclusion has led it to the paradigm of women-led development. Stronger Government actions and financing are necessary to ensure progress of women’s participation in peace and security amid dire and evolving global conditions. According to the recently released Finance Ministry’s monthly report, the Indian government’s initiatives such as financial inclusion, rural microfinance and property rights have contributed to the development of women in the country.
“For women-led development to be actualised in its true sense, the prerequisites of equal opportunity and basic needs must be fulfilled. This has inspired multifarious initiatives by the government to improve the quality of the women, enabling their economically productive participation in the workforce,” stated the report, cited by TOI.
According to the report, the PM Jan Dhan Yojna has facilitated the opening of 50 crore bank accounts, out of which 56% of account holders are women as of August 2023. This is followed by a rise in average deposits by nearly four times from INR 1065 in March 2015 to INR 4087 in March 2023, it added.
For India to achieve SDG 5: Gender Equality, the Indian Government has taken extraordinary measures including Standup India, PM MUDRA Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, POSHAN Abhiyaan, increasing the scope of entrepreneurship among women.
It said that the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission, one of the government’s SHG programmes, has covered nearly 9 crore women through 83 lakh SHGs. The report said that under the PM AWAS Yojana 26.6% of the 2.4 crore completed houses are solely in the name of women and 69% are jointly in the name of wife and husband.
Leveraging the distribution of opportunities, resources, and choices for women, the nation has embarked upon the journey to provide the key drivers of development with improved access to basic amenities, focused investments in employment and skill development, and gender inclusive policies.
Women empowerment and development is a primary concern for many years. With regard to the safety of women, Haryana police is recently planning to launch a ‘Safe Journey’ initiative through the Haryana 112 platform to enhance the safety of women and children using cab or private transportation. Through this initiative, women will be able to register themselves by dialling 112 and providing their travel details in advance.
