Lok Sabha Question No. 3804 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-11
Subject: District Level Centres for Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Midhun Reddy, Chinta Anuradha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3804

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2023

## DISTRICT LEVEL CENTRES FOR WOMEN

3804.  SHRI P.V. MIDHUN REDDY: SHRIMATI CHINTA ANURADHA:

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

- (a) whether the Government has established District Level Centres for Women (DLCW) in all the districts of Andhra Pradesh, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the task forces that were set up at National/ State/ district level for monitoring and course correction have been effective in tackling implementation issues, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether all of these DLCWs in the said State are currently functional, if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d) the number of women reached for awareness campaigns and other activities of these DLCWs in the said State during the COVID-19 pandemic; and
- (e) the funds released for the State of Andhra Pradesh in this scheme since its inception, year-wise?

## ANSWER

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

(a) : A  total  number  of  640  District  Level  Centres  for  Women  (DLCWs)  were approved  under  the  erstwhile  Mahila  Shakti  Kendra  (MSK)  Scheme  including  13 DLCWs in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

(b) to (d) : The Mahila Shakti Kendra (MSK) Scheme was approved in November, 2017 as  a  centrally  sponsored  scheme  to  empower  rural  women  through  community participation. A third party evaluation study of MSK scheme was conducted by NITI Aayog in 2020. Taking into account the findings of the evaluation and in consultation with States/ UTs and stakeholders, the scheme has been discontinued with effect from 01.04.2022.

The Government of India has launched 'Mission Shakti' -an integrated women empowerment programme as umbrella scheme for safety, security and empowerment of women for greater efficiency, effectiveness and financial prudence. The Umbrella Scheme of Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes namely "Sambal" and "Samarthya".

Benefiting  from  the  learning  from  implementation  of  earlier  scheme,  appropriate provisions  have  been  incorporated  under  a  new  component  of  'Samarthya'  subscheme  of  'Mission  Shakti'  i.e.  Hub  for  Empowerment  of  Women  (HEW),  which envisage  setting   up   National,  State  and  District  level  Hubs  for  empowerment  of women. HEW aims to facilitate inter-sectoral convergence of schemes and programs meant for women at the central (NHEW), State/ UT (SHEW) and district (DHEW) levels with the mandate to create an environment in which women realize their full potential. The support under the HEW provides for guiding, linking and hand holding women to various institutional and schematic set ups for their empowerment and development including access to healthcare, quality education, career and vocational counseling/ training, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, backward and forward linkages, health and safety for workers, social security and digital literacy at districts/ Blocks/ Gram Panchayats level across the country.

(e) :     Year-wise details of funds released for the State of Andhra Pradesh under MSK scheme since its inception are as under:

| States /UTs    | Funds Released (Rupees in lakh)   | Funds Released (Rupees in lakh)   | Funds Released (Rupees in lakh)   | Funds Released (Rupees in lakh)   | Funds Released (Rupees in lakh)   |
|----------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
|                | 2017-18                           | 2018-19                           | 2019-20                           | 2020-21                           | 2021-22                           |
| Andhra Pradesh | 7.39                              | 277.20                            | 21.13                             | 0.00                              | 0.00                              |

Further, the Government has released a sum of Rs. 212 Lakhs to the State of Andhra Pradesh during the year 2022-23 for implementation of the component of HEW at State and District levels.

*****