Lok Sabha Question No. 1127 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-25
Subject: Awareness Programmes for Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Ramashankar  Vidharthi Rajbhar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1127

TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.07.2025

## AWARENESS PROGRAMMES FOR WOMEN

## +1127. SHRI RAMASHANKAR VIDHARTHI RAJBHAR:

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware that adequate facilities for nutrition, health, security and education of women and children are not available in many districts of Uttar Pradesh, if so, the details of the remedial steps taken in this regard;
- (b) the details of the schemes/awareness programmes being run in the said State to prevent child marriage, human trafficking/domestic violence alongwith the progress made therein;
- (c) whether any new scheme has been approved for improving honorarium, training/social security of Anganwadi, Asha Bahu and women members of Self Help Group, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether any new initiative is being taken in the said State to strengthen Anganwadi Centres and eliminate malnutrition, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether there is any scheme to provide loan/subsidy to women for higher education, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR)

(a): The Central Government gives highest priority for ensuring that adequate facilities are put in place for nutrition, health, security and education of women and children in the country including in the State of Uttar Pradesh. The major schemes/ programmes implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in this regard are as follows:

The  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  (MWCD)  during  the  15th  Finance Commission  period,  with  effect  from  the  financial  year  2022-23,  implements  Centrally Sponsored Schemes for the welfare of women and children, organized under three key verticals: (1) Mission Shakti, which focuses on the safety, protection, and empowerment of women through its two sub-components-Sambal, for safety and security, and Samarthya, for empowerment; (2) Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0, aimed at improving nutrition and health of children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers, along with early childhood care and education; and (3) Mission Vatsalya, dedicated to the protection and welfare of children in difficult circumstances, including those in need of care and protection and those in conflict with the law.

Further, there are a number of schemes implemented by various Ministries/ Departments of the Central Government education, hygiene and security of women and children in the country including in the State of Uttar Pradesh. Some of these schemes are as under:

- i. Samagra  Shiksha,  Kasturba  Gandhi  Balika  Vidyalaya,  Babu  Jagjeevan  Ram Chhatravas  Yojana,  Eklavya  Model  Residential  Schools  and  various  scholarship schemes including pre-matric, post-matric and scholarship for higher education and fellowship  as  well  as  e-learning  platforms  like   '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, PM e-Vidya, NEAT (National Education  Alliance  for  Technology)  etc  have  been  implemented  for  ensuring affordable and quality education for all including women and girls.
- ii. Under Ayushman Bharat, the Government is providing free of cost treatment through over  1200  medical  packages.  Out  of  these,  over  141  medical  packages  are exclusively  designed  for  addressing  medical  needs  of  women.  Seven  types  of screening  (TB,  Hypertension,  Diabetes,  Oral  Cancer,  Breast  Cancer,  Cervical Cancer and Cataract) are provided under the scheme, which have benefitted crores of women. There are over 1,50,000 Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs), also referred to as Ayushman Arogya Mandir, in both urban and rural areas, bring health care closer to the community.
- iii. There  are  over  16,000  Pradhan  Mantri  Bhartiya  Janaushadhi  Kendras  (PMBJK) functional across the country. The PMBJK besides providing affordable medicines and medical devices, including about 40 women specific items also have provision for  sale  of  Sanitary  Napkins  named  'Suvidha  Sanitary  Napkins'  at  extremely affordable price of Rupee 1 per pad.
- iv. Prime Minister Awaas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana Urban (PMAY-U) aim to provide 'Housing for All' through provision of pucca house with basic amenities to all houseless families and households living in kutcha and dilapidated  house  in  rural  areas  and  the  housing  requirement  of  Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) including slum dwellers in the urban areas.
- v. Under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna (PMKVY), skill and vocational training is provided to women.
- vi. Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin  Digital  Saksharta  Abhiyan  (PMGDISHA)  provides  digital literacy to rural populations.
- vii. Women are also the largest beneficiaries under Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) one of the largest financial inclusion initiatives in the world which also provides access  to  direct  benefits  under  various  welfare  schemes,  credit  and  insurance services.
- viii. Stand Up India and MUDRA Yojna facilitate bank loans and entrepreneurial activities and have majorly benefitted women entrepreneurs.
- ix. Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri  Jeevan  Jyoti  Bima  Yojana  (PMJJBY)  have  been  implemented  to provide social protection through insurance coverage and pension.
- x. In order to reduce drudgery and enhance the ease of living for the women particularly in the rural areas of the country, including in the State of Uttar Pradesh, under the Swacch Bharat Mission more than 11.8 crore toilets have been constructed, 10.3 crore households have been provided Clean cooking fuel through Ujjawala Yojana and safe and potable tap water connection to over 15.6 crore households through Jal Jeevan Mission.

(b): Following are some of the schemes/ awareness programmes being run in the country including Uttar Pradesh to prevent child marriage, human trafficking/domestic violence:

- i. The Central Government launched 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat' campaign on 27th November 2024 which focuses on making the country child marriage free. Under the campaign, a portal 'https://stopchildmarriage.wcd.gov.in' has been launched to support the States and UTs in raising awareness against child marriage  and  for  effective  reporting  and  prevention  of  incidences  of  child marriage. The portal also has facility to provide information to citizens about Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (CMPOs) of all States and UTs. The portal is available in 22 languages.
- ii. The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has launched the SHe-Box  portal,  a  centralised  digital  platform  that  serves  not  only  as  a confidential complaint mechanism but also as a repository for information on Internal Committees (ICs) and Local Committees (LCs) across the country. This  platform  plays  a  crucial  role  in  enabling  women  to  report  sexual harassment securely and confidentially, contributing to increased accountability  and  long-term  cultural  change  in  workplaces.  The  portal  is available  in  22  languages  and  also  has  facility  of  audio  captcha  so  as  to remove the language as well as disability barriers for women from different regions of the country.
- iii. The Government has also launched several key initiatives to strengthen crime tracking  and  inter-agency  coordination,  with  a  focus  on  combating  human trafficking. Cri-MAC enables 24x7 real-time information sharing among Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), aiding swift action on major crimes, including trafficking. Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) that functions as an online analytical tool to monitor and track police investigations in  cases  of  sexual  offences.  The  National  Database  on  Sexual  Offenders (NDSO)  helps  monitor  sexual  offenders,  while  the  National  Database  of Human Trafficking Offenders (NDHTO) supports LEAs efforts to identify and track  human  trafficking  offenders  nationwide.  Under  Nirbhaya  Fund,  Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) are integrated task forces to prevent and combat trafficking  in  persons  and  comprise  of  a  group  of  trained  sensitive officials of Police, Women and Child Welfare Department and other relevant Departments of the State. AHTUs attend to all three aspects of trafficking viz. prevention, protection and prosecution and are thus the field level functional units to address human trafficking in a holistic manner. A total of 827 AHTUs are functional in approximately 700 out of 766 districts including 807 across

all  States/  UTs and 15 in Border Security Force (BSF) and 5 in Sashastra Suraksha Bal (SSB).

- iv. The  Bharatiya Nyaya  Sanhita (BNS), 2023, strengthens India's legal framework against human trafficking through several key provisions. Sections 143  and  144  replace  and  expand  IPC  Sections  370  and  370A,  defining trafficking  broadly  and  prescribing  stringent  punishments,  especially  for trafficking of multiple persons or children and their exploitation. Section 111 introduces  the  offence  of  Organized  Crime,  which  includes  trafficking  for prostitution. Other relevant provisions include Section 69 (sexual intercourse on false promise of marriage or employment), Section 95 (using children to commit offences), and Section 99 (buying a child for prostitution) also cover the offence of human trafficking directly or indirectly.
- v. Furthermore, for the safety of women survivors of domestic violence, there are several Projects/ Schemes under Nirbhaya Fund have been implemented/ being implemented in the State of Uttar Pradesh:

One Stop Centres (OSCs) which is an institution located at district level offering under one roof immediate help and support to women in distress such as temporary shelter, medical & police assistance, counselling and legal support, the Women Helpline (WHL) 181 provides toll-free 24-hours telecom service to women seeking support and information. Currently, in Uttar Pradesh, there are 96 operational OSCs with at least one OSC in each of the 75 districts which have assisted over 2.85 lakh women upto 30.06.2025. While, Universalisation of Women Helpline (WHL)-181 functional in 35 States/ UTs including Uttar Pradesh. WHL in UP has handled over 12.82 lakh calls and assisted over 8.5 lakh women till 31.05.2025.

(c) and (d): Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a Centrally Sponsored scheme. The Central Government is responsible for policy and planning and the State Governments are responsible for day-to-day program implementation of this scheme. Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Anganwadi Helpers (AWHs) are 'honorary workers' from the local community who volunteer their services for child care and development to help the community. Being honorary  and  voluntary  workers,  they  are  paid  a  monthly  honorarium  as  decided  by Government from time to time.  Currently,  an  Anganwadi Worker is  paid  honorarium  @ Rs.4,500/- per month and Anganwadi Helper is paid honorarium @Rs.2,250/- per month on cost  sharing  basis  between  the  Centre  and  State/UT  along  with  performance  linked incentive of Rs.250/- per month for AWHs and Rs.500/- to AWWs. In addition, States/UTs are also paying additional monetary incentives/ honorarium to these functionaries from their own resources which vary from State to State. They are neither recruited nor appointed in the program through any open, competitive process of recruitment.

As per Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 Guidelines issued by the Ministry, 50% of the position  of  AWWs  and  Supervisors  are  required  to  be  filled  by  the  AWH  and  AWW respectively, subject to fulfilment of other criteria. States/ UTs have been requested to adopt a uniform retirement date i.e 30th April of each year with respect to Anganwadi Workers and Helpers to ensure proper human resource planning. Keeping in view the importance of their contribution towards society, Government provides insurance benefits to Anganwadi Workers and Helpers under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) to AWWs/ AWHs in the age group of 18 to 50 years and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana to AWWs and AWHs in the age group  of  18-59  years.  MWCD  has  also  requested  State Governments/ UT Administrations to encourage eligible AWWs/AWHs to enrol themselves under  Pradhan  Mantri  Shram  Yogi  Mandhan  (PM-SYM)  Pension  Scheme  on  voluntary basis to get an assured monthly pension on attaining the age of 60 years.

From the financial year 2024-25, healthcare cover under the Ayushman Bharat scheme has been extended to all AWW/AWHs. Apart from the above, other facilities are also being extended to AWWs/AWHs, including leave of 20 days per year, paid absence on abortion/ miscarriage once for 45 days and paid maternity absence of 180 days. There is a provision for set of two uniforms (saree/suit) per annum to AWW/ AWHs.

Further, Mission Poshan 2.0 empowers the frontline functionaries i.e. Anganwadi workers by providing them with smart phones. The 'Poshan Tracker' application was rolled out on 1st  March  2021  as  an  important  governance  tool  to  strengthen  and  bring  about transparency  in  nutrition  delivery  support  systems  at  the  Anganwadi  centres.  Poshan Tracker facilitates monitoring and tracking of all Anganwadi Centers, Anganwadi workers (AWWs) and beneficiaries on defined indicators.

(e): The Scholarship Division of Department of Higher Education is currently administering the  following  two  schemes  pertaining  to  loan/subsidy.  They  are  not  gender  specific  but rather aim at helping all the meritorious students eligible under the scheme:

- i. PM-USP  CSIS:  Under  this  Scheme  Interest  Subsidy  is  given  during  the moratorium period i.e., Course period plus one year on Education Loan taken from the Scheduled Banks under the Model Education Loan Scheme of Indian Banks  Association  to  students  belonging  to  economically  weaker  sections whose annual parental income is up to Rs. 4.5 Lakh from all sources.
- ii. PM  Vidyalaxmi:  The  scheme  provides  for collateral  free,  guarantor  free education  loans  to  meritorious  students  who  get  admission  in  the  top  860 quality higher educational institutions of the nation; made accessible through a simple, transparent, student-friendly and entirely digital application process. Furthermore, for students with up to Rs. 8 lakhs annual family income, the scheme will also provide for 3% interest subvention on loans up to Rs 10 lakh.

In addition to the above, there are pre and post matric scholarship schemes implemented by  the  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs,  Department  of  Social  Justice  and  Empowerment  and Ministry of Minority Affairs for the students belonging to SC/ ST and minority communities.

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