Lok Sabha Question No. 350 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-03
Subject: Social and Economic Empowerment of Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Rahul Ramesh Shewale, Pritam Gopinath Munde, Girish Bhalchandra Bapat, D.K. Suresh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 350

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.02.2023

## SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

350.    SHRI RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE: DR. PRITAM GOPINATHRAO MUNDE: SHRI GIRISH BHALCHANDRA BAPAT: SHRI D.K. SURESH:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) whether empowerment and protection of women and children, and ensuring their  wholesome  development  is  crucial  for  sustainable  and  equitable development of the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  measures  taken  or  proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to promote  social  and  economic  empowerment  of  women  and  the  success achieved in this regard so far;
- (c) whether there is a lack of better monitoring and efficient implementation of all the schemes being implemented by the Ministry for women and children in the country; and
- (d) if so, the effective steps taken by the Government for better monitoring and efficient implementation of all the schemes across the country and the results achieved so far in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI )

(a) &  (b): Yes  sir.  The  Government  is  aware  that  holistic  development  and empowerment of women and children is necessary for sustainable development of the country  and  to  realize  the  vision  of  'Viksit  Bharat'.  In  the  past  few  years  the Government has adopted multi-pronged approach to address the issue of women and children on a life-cycle continuum basis for their educational, social, economic and political empowerment so that they become equal partners in national development.

The Government has enacted criminal laws and special laws like 'the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005', 'the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961', 'the Prohibition  of  Child  Marriage  Act,  2006';  'the  Indecent  Representation  of  Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986'; 'the Sexual Harassment of Women (Prevention, Prohibition and  Redressal)  Act,  2013',  'the Immoral  Traffic (Prevention)  Act, 1956', 'the Commission of Sati Prevention Act, 1987', 'the Protection of Children from Sexual

Offenses  Act,  2012',  'the  Juvenile  Justice  (Care  and  Protection  of  Children)  Act, 2015   etc.  The  Criminal  Law  Amendment  of  2013  and  2018  has  made  the  penal provisions stringent in case of heinous crimes against women and children.

Further,  the  Ministry  implements  'Mission  Shakti',  an  umbrella  scheme  for safety, security and empowerment of women under which there are components of One Stop Centre (OSC) and Universalization of Women Helplines (WHL), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao(BBBP). The OSCs, popularly known as Sakhi Centres, facilitate women affected by violence and in distress with a range of integrated services under one roof such as police facilitation, medical aid, providing legal aid, psycho-social counselling, temporary  shelter  etc.  Further,  the  Women  Helpline  (WHL)  provides  24  hours emergency  and  non-emergency  response  to  women  affected  by  violence  and  in distress, both in public and private spaces by linking them with appropriate authority such as Police, One Stop Centre, Hospital, Legal Services etc. WHL also supports women  by  providing  information  about  Government's  schemes  and  programs  to women.  In addition, several projects/ schemes  are implemented by Central Government through other Ministries / Departments /Implementing Agencies under 'Nirbhaya Fund' which include Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) which is  a  pan-India  single  number  (112)/  mobile  app  based  system  for  emergencies;  a cyber-crime reporting portal to report obscene content; Safe City Projects in 8 cities (Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai) including  infrastructure,  technology  adoption  and  capacity  building  in  community through  awareness  programmes,  training  and  skill  development  programs  for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers;  setting up of 1023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) including exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts for  speedy  disposal  of  cases  of  rape  and  cases  under  POCSO  Act;  setting  up/ strengthening of Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) in all districts of the country; setting up/ strengthening of Women Help Desks (WHDs) at Police Stations etc. The Government has also put in place Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO), an online analytic tool for tracking and monitoring of investigation. A National Database of Sexual Offenders (NDSO) has also been created.

Under Nirbhaya Fund, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) has  also  undertaken  several  initiatives,  which,  inter-alia  includes  training  and  skill development programs for Investigation Officers, Prosecution Officers and Medical Officers,  distribution  of  Sexual  Assault  Evidence  Collection  (SAEC)  Kits  to  States/ UTs.  BPR&D has also prepared Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for 'Women Help Desk at Police Stations' to ensure smooth functioning of Women Help Desks by focusing  on  four  critical  components  viz.  infrastructure,  training,  human  resource development and response mechanism.  A book titled 'Women's Safety and Securitya  Handbook  for  First  Responders  and  Investigators  in  the  Police'  has  also  been prepared for the purpose of prevention and investigation of crime against women with specific reference to the crime of sexual assault, which includes investigation, victim compensation and rehabilitation. Emphasis has been laid upon appropriate behavioural and attitudinal skills of the police in course of prevention and detection of crime against women and children and interaction with victims of crime.  Webinars on women safety with sensitivity, gender sensitization of police personnel etc. have also been organized by BPR&D.

Ministry of Women and Child Development through National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) has provided  basic and advanced training under the project named 'Stree Manoraksha' to the staff of One Stop Centres (OSCs) across the country on  handling psycho-social and mental health care needs to support the women facing violence and women in distress.

Further, the Government of India implements various schemes / programmes of welfare of women/ girls. While the schemes implemented by the Government like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban & Rural),  the National  Social  Assistance  Programme  (NSAP),  Pradhan  Mantri  Vyay  Vandana Yojana  (PMVVY)  supports  the  young  girls  and  women  to  be  socially  sound,  the initiatives  like  Samagra  Shiksha,  Scheme  of  National  Overseas  Scholarship,  Babu Jagjivan Ram ChhatrawasYojna, Swacch Vidyalaya Mission, etc. ensure that schools are  girl-friendly  especially  for  vulnerable  sections  of  society  and  have  adequate facilities  in  place  to fulfill  their  special  requirements.  The National Education Policy prioritizes gender as an important guiding principle in all curricular areas. In order to enhance the employability of female workers, the Government is providing training to them through a network of Women Industrial Training institutes, National Vocational Training Institutes and Regional Vocational Training Institutes. To ensure economic independence  of  women  through  skill  development  and  vocational  training,  the Government has also introduced Skill India Mission. The National Skill Development Policy focuses on inclusive skill development, with the objective of increased women participation for better economic productivity. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikash Kendras lay emphasis on creating additional infrastructure both for training and apprenticeship for women; flexible training delivery mechanisms, flexible afternoon batches on local need-based training to accommodate women; and ensuring safe and gender sensitive training  environment,  employment  of  women  trainers,  equity  in  remuneration,  and complaint  redressal  mechanism.  There  are  schemes  like  Pradhan  Mantri  Mudra Yojana and Stand-up India, for helping the women to set up their own enterprise. Under the Swacch Vidyalaya Mission, it was ensured that all schools have at least one functional toilet for girls. Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojna (PMUY) aims to safeguard the health of women by providing them with clean cooking fuel and also from drudgery of collecting firewood.  Further, in order to encourage employment of women, a number of enabling provisions have been incorporated in the recently enacted three Labour Codes  i.e.  the  Industrial  Relations  Code,  2020,  Occupational  Safety,  Health  and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code on Social Security, 2020 for creating congenial work environment for women workers. Stand-up India scheme promotes entrepreneurship amongst women. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee  Act,  2005  (MGNREGA)  mandates  that  at  least  one  third  of  the  jobs generated under the scheme (MGNREGS) should be given to women. For securing the future of the girl child, the government launched a savings scheme called 'Sukanya Samriddhi Account' etc.

Department  of  Higher  Education,  Ministry  of  Education  is  administering 'National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology' (NMEICT) Scheme, SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds),  SWAYAM  PRABHA,  National  Digital  Library  (NDL),  Virtual  Lab,  e-Yantra, NEAT (National Education Alliance for Technology) etc. to ensure quality education through e-learning to students across the country. Under the Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi  Karyakram,  Vidya  Lakshmi  Portal  (VLP)  has  been  launched  by  the Government on August 15, 2015 to ensure that students avail education loans easily through single window system of banks. All Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have been on-boarded on the Portal.

Multiple initiatives in the past seven years for increasing participation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) have been undertaken. Vigyan Jyoti was launched in 2020 to balance low representation of girls in  different  streams  of  Science  and  Technology  from  9 th   to  12 th   standards.  The Overseas  Fellowship  Scheme  started  in  2017-18,  provides  opportunities  to  Indian Women Scientist and Technologists to undertake international collaborative research in  STEM. Several women scientists have played significant roles in India's maiden Mars  Orbiter  Mission  (MOM),  or  Mangalyaan,  including  building  and  testing  the scientific instruments at the Space Application Centre.

Under the Samagra Siksha, Self-defence training covers girls of classes 6 to 12 of government schools. Self defence training is covered in 2,29,200 schools till 2020-21 compared to 49495 schools covered in 2015-16.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 has been passed which declares pronouncement of instantaneous and irrevocable triple talaq by a Muslim husband as void and illegal. It has been declared as a penal offence with imprisonment of up to three years and fine. The Act also provides for subsistence allowance and custody of the minor children to married Muslim women. With this Act equality between the spouses has been ensured and rights of married Muslim women have been protected. The ban on women going to Haj without a male companion has been lifted, encouraging a large number of women to apply for the same in 2018.

The  Anganwadi  Services  under  Mission  Poshan  2.0  is  a  universal  scheme under which all children below 6 years of age, pregnant women and lactating mothers are eligible for the services including the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) provided under the scheme. Under Mission POSHAN 2.0, digital infrastructure has been strengthened to bring about greater transparency in nutrition delivery support systems. Technology under the 'Poshan Tracker' is being leveraged to support last mile tracking of nutrition service delivery to pregnant women and lactating mothers all over the country.

For partial compensation of wages and for promoting health seeking behavior among  pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers,  Government  has  implemented Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) which aims to promote appropriate practice,  care  and  institutional  service  utilization  during  pregnancy,  delivery  and lactation  by  providing  cash  incentives  in  Direct  Benefit  Transfer  (DBT)  mode  to pregnant and lactating mothers. The benefit is available to a woman for the first two living children provided the second child is a girl. In case of the first child the amount of ₹5000 in two installments and for the second child, the benefit of ₹6000 is provided if  it  is  a  girl  child  in  one  installment  after the  birth. Benefits have been extended to around 2.80 crore women through this scheme.

For reducing the drudgery and care burden on women, under the Swachchh Bharat Mission, construction of over 11.60 crore toilets have transformed the lives of women. The Government has ensured that 9.60 crore clean cooking gas connections are  given  to  women  below  the  poverty  line  in  India.  Government  of  India  is ensuring health for all under the 'Ayushman Bharat', with special focus on poor and disadvantaged women. Under this initiative, the Government is providing free of cost treatment  through  over  1200 medical  packages  to over  fifty  crore  citizens of  India, predominantly enhancing access to health benefits to poor women. Further, 'Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras' are established so as to reduce out of pocket expenses in healthcare. The objective is to bring down the healthcare budget of every citizen of India through providing Quality generic Medicines at Affordable Prices. Over 8700 Kendras are functional across the country. In 2017, the Maternity Benefit Act was amended to increase paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children.

National  Agriculture  Market  or  e-NAM  is  an  online  trading  platform  for agricultural commodities, scheme "Kisan Call Centres" answering farmers' queries on a  telephone  call  in  their  own  dialect,  mobile  applications  like  Kisan  Suvidha,  Agri Market, National Crop Insurance Portal, UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for NewAge  Governance).  These  digital  innovations  are  helping  women  overcome  or compensate the barriers they face in accessing markets. Farmers' welfare schemes like Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, etc. continue to nurture an enabling environment for women farmers. Through the initiatives  Government  is  improving farm  women's  access  to productive resources including agricultural extension services thereby bringing overall improvement  in the lives of rural  women. National  Cooperative  Development Corporation is playing a significant role to uplift women cooperatives as large number of women are engaged and involved in cooperatives dealing with activities related to food  grain  processing,  plantation  crops,  oilseeds  processing,  fisheries,  dairy  & livestock, spinning mills, handloom and power loom weaving, Integrated Cooperative Development Projects, etc. Under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, training  for  skills  development  to  women  and  more  subsidy/  assistance  to  women farmers  are  given.   Publicity  on  gender  interventions  through  print,  electronic  and social media being carried out from time to time especially via through Doordarshan, DD Kisan and All India Radio.

India is promoting greater roles for girls in the armed forces. Government has also made enabling provisions for allowing women's participation in non-conventional sectors such as fighter pilots in Indian Air Force, Commandos, Central Police Forces, admissions in Sainik Schools, entry of Girls in NDA etc. The Government has taken multiple initiatives to increase female participation in the civil aviation sector with the creation of women aviation professionals through a special focus on young schoolgirls, especially from low-income families. Today, country has 10% more women pilots than the global average. Globally, according to the International Society of Women Airline Pilots, around 5 per cent of pilots are women. In India, the share of women pilots is significantly higher.

The initiatives taken for empowerment of women and children through Digital Literacy include 'Digital India' that ensures availability of high-speed internet as a core utility for delivery of services to citizens; a digital identity that is unique, lifelong, online; mobile phone and bank account enabling the citizen's participation in the digital and financial  space;  easy  access  to  a  Common  Service  Centre  and  safe  and  secure cyberspace. Significant milestones under the Digital India campaign include 'MyGOV', an innovative platform to build a partnership between Citizens and Government with the help of technology for growth and development of India; the 'Aadhaar database which is the world's largest biometric-based digital identity; Bharat Net, to connect  250,000  village  level  elected  governments;  MeghRaj  or  GI  Cloud,  to accelerate delivery of e-services in the country; Swayam, that provides free online courses starting from school to post-graduate education. Prime Minister's Rural Digital Literacy Campaign (Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Sakasharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) that  seeks to make 6 crore persons digitally literate, reaching around 40% of rural households by covering one member from every eligible household. Over 52% of the total enrolled persons are women and the percentage of women beneficiaries who got certified under the scheme is 54 % of the total certified beneficiaries. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country. It seeks to bridge the existing gap amongst different stakeholders of healthcare ecosystem through digital highways. This  includes  standardizing  the  process  of  identification  of  an  individual  across healthcare providers with an ABHA Number and a Unified Health Interface to enable a wide variety of digital health services between patients and health service providers. To economically empower women, 81% of loans of sizes from a million to ten million rupees under scheme of 'Stand-Up India' have been made available to women by the Government. Similarly, under 'MUDRA' (or Prime Minister's Micro-Units Development & Refinance Agency) scheme, 68% loans sized up to one million rupees have been sanctioned  to  women-owned  and  operated  enterprises.  Under  one  of  the  largest financial inclusion programmes in the world, 53% of the total accounts have been open by women under PM Jan Dhan Yojana, mostly in rural areas. During the Covid 19 pandemic Government has transferred a total of Rs. 31,000 Crore in three tranches in the bank accounts of approx. 20.50 crore women beneficiaries.  Under National Rural Livelihoods  Mission,  nearly 8.4  crore  women  are  connected  with around 80  lakh women's  self-help  groups that are  transforming rural  socio-economic  landscape  in several  innovative  and  socially  and  ecologically  responsible  ways,  also  availing governmental support including through collateral free loans. Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi  Maan-dhan  (PM-SYM)  has  been  launched  to  ensure  old  age  protection  for unorganised  workers  who  are  not  covered  by  any  other  pension  scheme.  The unorganised  workers  including  women,  mostly  engaged  as  home  based  workers, street vendors, mid-day meal workers, head loaders, brick kiln workers, cobblers, rag pickers,  domestic  workers,  washer  men,  rickshaw  pullers,  landless  labourers, agricultural workers, construction workers, beedi workers, handloom workers, leather workers, audio- visual workers and similar other occupations whose monthly income is Rs 15,000/ per month or less and belong to the entry age group of 18-40 years. The  number  of  women  participating  in  major  household  decisions  is  increasing. National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS 5) says 88.7% women participate in major household decisions today as against 84% five years ago.

(c)  &  (d):  The  Schemes  of  the  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  are implemented  through  State  Governments/  UT  Administrations.  Under  the  three Missions implemented by the Ministry namely, 'Mission Poshan 2.0', 'Mission Shakti' and 'Mission Vatasalya', appropriate monitoring mechanism is available at all levels of implementation i.e. at National, State and District levels. The Ministry continuously monitors  the  progress  of  the  implementation  of  all  schemes  through  physical  and virtual meetings with States/ UTs, field visit by the officials of the Ministry and through digital mode and takes appropriate measures and issues advisories to States/ UTs from time to time.

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