#Modi365 - Schemes Galore For Women

What exactly has the Modi government done for women in one year in government?

Last week I accompanied Lata, my domestic help, to the bank. She wanted my help to enrol herself in the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana, the life insurance scheme launched by the Narendra Modi government. I helped her fill out the form. “Abhi mere ko kuchh hua to bachchon ko paisa to milega (Now, if anything happens to me, at least my children will get some money’),” Lata said, as she signed her name laboriously on the dotted line.

Lata works as a domestic help in a few households in my neighbourhood. Till last year, she was paid all her salary in cash, as she did not have a bank account. “Tab mera paisa hath me rehta hi nahi tha (Those days I had no money left in my hands),” Lata said. Her husband extorted money from her and squandered it on liquor. She often had to ask for a loan from her employers or reach the local moneylender for short term loans at an exorbitant rate of interest.

Lata now operates her own bank account that she opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana launched by the Modi government last year. She has asked all her employers to credit her salary directly into her account. “Abhi mera paisa mere control me hai (Now, only I have control over my money),” smiles Lata proudly, as she puts away her passbook carefully inside her purse. I see a newfound confidence in her that comes from financial independence.

This article is part of our special series on Modi government’s first anniversary in power.

A year ago, Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister with an unprecedented mandate. An entire nation aspired for achchhe din. A year later, the dream is slowly, but surely, beginning to come true for many people like Lata.

Last year, Modi formally launched India’s biggest ever financial inclusion programme named Jan Dhan Yojana. The scheme aims to provide a bank account to every household in the country. A major chunk of the Indian population lies outside the purview of the banking system. People conduct all their transactions in cash. They are forced to take loans from private moneylenders in times of need. This leads to debt traps and even suicides. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana aims to remedy this situation.

Banks have now made it easy for people to open bank accounts. There is no minimum balance required and accounts opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana have benefits like an overdraft facility, life insurance cover and accidental insurance. Even though the scheme was not specifically aimed at empowering women, it has helped a lot of women like Lata to get control over their finances. As Lata says,”Paisa hath me hota hai to power bhi hota hai, didi (When you have money in your hands, you automatically have power).”

Prime Minister Modi has spoken of his commitment to women’s issues time and again. In his first ever Independence Day speech, Modi had highlighted the cause of health and sanitation and spoken about the need to provide clean toilets for girls in schools as well as households.

Stressing the need to respect the dignity of women, the prime minister had asked the help of the corporate sector to build separate toilets for girls in schools across the country by next year. In response to the request, several companies have announced plans to improve sanitation facilities for women in rural areas. IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has pledged Rs 100 crore toward financing hygienic sanitation facilities for girl students across 10,000 schools in rural India. Bharti Foundation also had announced an investment of up to Rs 100 crore over the next three years to construct toilets for girls in government schools in Punjab.

The commitment of the Modi government to the cause of women empowerment can be seen from the fact that the council of ministers has seven women ministers, six of them with Cabinet rank — a first for any Indian government since independence. In fact, Sushma Swaraj is only the second woman to hold the prestigious Foreign Affairs portfolio after Indira Gandhi! While senior parliamentarians like Swaraj and Najma Heptullah bring to the Council of Ministers their experience, young firebrand ministers like Smriti Irani, who heads the powerful HRD ministry and Harsimrat Kaur provides their ministries with fresh perspectives.

In fact, one of the most enduring images of this year’s Republic Day parade was an all-women regiment marching proudly on Rajpath and the HRD minister Smriti Irani giving the young lady officers a standing ovation. The theme of this year’s parade was clearly women empowerment. The Guard of Honour for the President of the United States and chief guest for this year’s parade, Barack Obama, was led for the very first time by Pooja Thakur, a female officer. There were all-women regiments from the Army, Navy as well as the Air Force marching on the Rajpath this Republic Day.

Women’s safety is a major cause for concern in India. In a move to address this very critical issue, in August 2014, the Modi Government pledged to provide 33 per cent reservation in police force for women and has directed all states to implement it. The government also announced the establishment of 660 rape crisis centres across the country named Nirbhaya Centres, as a tribute to the victim of the Delhi gang rape of December 2012. These Nirbhaya Centres will act as a one-stop centre for women in distress and provide medical assistance, police assistance, psycho-social support and counselling, legal aid and temporary shelter.

Perhaps the most ambitious programme for women launched by the Modi government is its flagship initiative to save the girl child. In January 2015, Modi launched his government’s biggest programme for women welfare and development named Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana.  The aim of the  program is to stop the inhuman practice of female foeticide and to encourage education and development of the girl child.

Very deliberately, the prime minister chose to flag off his Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign from the state of Haryana, a state battling with a poor sex ratio. He asked the help of local institutions like khap panchayats to help in respecting and protecting the girl child. Some khap leaders have responded positively to the prime minister’s appeal by lending their support to the campaign.

The main objectives of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme are:

• Prevent female foeticide;
• Ensure survival & protection of the girl child;
• Ensure education of the girl child;
• Provide Good Nutrition for the girl child, and
• Promote a nurturing environment for the Girl Child to grow and develop.

The government also launched a financial support scheme called the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana to supplement the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign. The yojana is a savings scheme that will cover all girls under the age of 10, where the parents can save for the girl child’s future.

From health and sanitation to safety and security, the Modi government has reiterated its commitment to women-related issues repeatedly. Schemes like the Jan Dhan Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana have been implemented successfully and have changed the lives of many women like Lata all over the country. The successful implementation of beti bachao and beti padhao will truly ensure that 50 per cent of India’s population will see achchhe din.