Lok Sabha Question No. 2190 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-12
Subject: Programmes for Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Kaushalendra Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2190 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.12.2025

## PROGRAMMES FOR WOMEN

## 2190.  SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR:

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

- (a) the  details  of  the  programmes  being  implemented  by  the  Government  to  raise  the standard of living of women in the country;
- (b) the details of the success achieved by all these programmes in raising the standard of living of women;
- (c) whether it is a fact that incidents of domestic violence, rape and character assassination against women have increased significantly in the country; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (d): The  Central  Government  gives  highest  priority  to  the  safety,  security  and empowerment  of  women  and  girls  in  the  country.  The  Government  has  adopted  a  multipronged approach on a life-cycle continuum basis to raise the standard of living of women in the  country  by  addressing  the  barriers  related  to  their  educational,  social,  economic  and political  empowerment.  As  a  result,  India  is  witnessing  a  rapid  transition  from  women's -development to women led development with the vision of a new India where women are the leading the way in fast paced and sustainable national development.

The greatest leap forward for women's political empowerment was taken by enactment of 'the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023' (Constitution One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act 2023, for reservation of one-third of seats for women in the House of People (Lok Sabha) and in the State Legislative Assemblies including Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi.

In order to encourage employment of women, the four Labour Codes - the Code on Wages, 2019,  the  Industrial  Relations  Code,  2020,  the  Code  on  Social  Security,  2020  and  the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 have been implemented with effect from 21st November 2025, rationalizing 29 erstwhile labour laws. As part of the reforms, the codes prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, mandate equal pay, and open doors for women to work across all sectors of economy at all times, including underground mining and  heavy  machinery  duties  &  night  shifts;  subject  to  their  consent  and  adequate  safety measures by employers.

In order to reduce drudgery and enhance the ease of living for the women particularly in the rural  areas,  under  the  Swacch  Bharat  Mission  more  than  11.8  crore  toilets  have  been constructed, over 10.3 crore households have been provided with clean cooking gas connection in  the  name  of  women  under  Ujjawala  Yojana  and  over  15  crore  households  have  been provided with safe and potable tap water connection under Jal Jeevan Mission.

Prime Minister Awaas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana Urban (PMAYU) aim to provide 'Housing for All' through provision of all weather pucca house with basic amenities to all houseless families and households living in kutcha and dilapidated house in rural areas and also to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) including slum dwellers in the urban areas.

The schemes such as Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana have incentivized financial investments into the girls' future. Schemes like Samagra Shiksha, provision of separate toilet for girls in schools, various  scholarship  schemes,  provision  of  affordable  and  quality  sanitary  napkins  under Pradhan  Mantri  Bhartiya  Jan  Aushadhi  Pariyojana,  etc.  have  also  contributed  towards behavioural changes resulting in increased enrolment of girls in educational institutions.

Under Ayushman Bharat, the Government is providing free of cost treatment through over 1200 medical packages to over 55 crore citizens. 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 150,000 Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs), also referred to as Ayushman Arogya Mandir, in both urban and rural areas, which bring health care closer to the community.

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) is the world's largest public funded health assurance scheme, with special focus on poor and disadvantaged women. 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. National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), 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.

To  ensure  economic  independence  of  women  through  skill  development  and  vocational training, the Government has also introduced Skill India Mission. Government has also set up the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana across the country. Emphasis has been laid on creating additional infrastructure both for training and apprenticeship  for  women.  Similarly,  Government  implements  the  Pradhan  Mantri  Gramin

Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) to provide digital literacy to rural population. These schemes have also helped women and girls in gaining necessary skills required for jobs and entrepreneurship.

One of the most successful schemes of the Central Government is Deendayal Antyodaya Yojna -  National  Rural  Livelihoods  Mission  (DAY-NRLM),  under  which  approximately  90  lakh women self-help groups having nearly 10 crore members are changing the rural landscape for employment/ self-employment. Government has also implemented women specific schemes such as Namo Drone Didi , Lakhpati Didi , Bank Sakhi , Bima Sakhi , to economically empower women particularly in rural areas.

Schemes  such  as  MUDRA  Yojna,  Stand-Up  India,  Start-up  India,  Pradhan  Mantri  Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGMSE), Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural  Employment  Guarantee  Scheme  (MGNREGS)  etc provide  employment/  self-employment  opportunities  and  credit  facilities.  Majority  of  the beneficiaries under these schemes are women.

The Government of India, through the Public Procurement Policy, has mandated that all Central Ministries/  Departments/  Public  Sector  Enterprises  procure  at  least  3%  of  their  annual procurement from women-owned Micro and Small Enterprises.

India is promoting greater roles for girls in the armed forces. The 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  National  Agriculture  Market  or  eNAM  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  KisanSuvidha,  Agri  Market,  National  Crop Insurance Portal,  UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-Age 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  Ni dhi, 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.

For safety and security of women and girls, Government has taken several steps, one of which is  to  modernize  and  improve  the  criminal  justice  system.  The  Government  has  enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) which came into effect from 1st July, 2024. In BNS 2023, the offences against women and children earlier scattered in Indian Penal Code, 1860 have been brought  together  and  consolidated  under  Chapter-V.  It  has  introduced  new  provisions  to strengthen laws related to women and children, specifically, Section 111 related to 'organized crime', Section 69 related to sexual intercourse on false promise of marriage, employment, promotion or by suppressing the identity, Section 95 related to hiring, employing or engaging a child to commit an offence etc. In respect of the crimes related to buying a child for the purposes of prostitution (Section 99), gang rape (Section 70) and exploitation of a trafficked person (Section  144),  punishment  has  been  increased.  Further,  in  respect  of  certain  severe crimes against women like buying child for the purposes of prostitution (section 99 of BNS), organised crime (Section 111), kidnapping or maiming a child for purpose of begging (Section 139), mandatory minimum punishments have been prescribed. Also, Sections 75 and 79 of BNS  2023  provide  additional  legal  protections  against  harassment,  covering  actions  like unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks and also word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman. A woman facing sexual harassment at workplace has an option to file a complaint under these provisions.

The BNSS takes a victimcentric approach, safeguarding victims' rights throughout the legal process.  It  introduces  e-FIR  and  zero  FIR  provisions  to  facilitate  swift  registration  of complaints for serious offenses against women, ensuring timely police action. Additionally, provisions under section 398 BNSS  which introduce Witness Protection Schemes, acknowledging the critical need to shield witnesses from threats and intimidation and Section 2(1)(d)  of  BSA  which  now  enables  electronic  or  digital  record  on  emails,  documents  on computers, laptop or smartphone, messages and voice mail messages stored on digital devices under definition of documents can also be referred for protection of women from harassment at workplace.

With  a  view  to  ensure  safety  of  women  at  workplace,  the  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child Development has put in place an electronic platform 'SHe -Box portal' duly encompassing various  provisions  of  'the  Sexual  Harassment  of  Women  at  Workplace  (Prevention, Prohi bition,  and  Redressal)  Act,  2013'  (SH  Act).  This  portal  provides  a  publicly  available centralised  repository  of  information  related  to  Internal  Committees  (ICs)  and  Local Committees (LCs) formed across the country, whether in government or private sector. It also provides a common platform to file complaints and track the status of such complaints. The portal includes a feature where complaints registered on it will be automatically forwarded to the IC/ LC of the workplaces concerned within the Central Ministries/ Departments, States/ UTs  and  in  Private  sector.  The  portal  provides  for  designating  a  nodal  officer  for  every workplace who is required to ensure updation of data/ information on a regular basis for real time monitoring of complaints. The portal is available in 22 languages for facilitating its access to the working women in remote and far flung areas.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development implements an umbrella scheme, 'Mission Shakti' for safety, security and empowerment of women. Under the scheme, the Government has set up One Stop Centres across the country to provide integrated help and support to women facing violence or those in distress, a 24x7 women helpline with telephonic short code 181 which,  besides  providing  emergency  and  non-emergency  support  to  the  needy  women  by connecting  them  with  appropriate  authorities,  also  provide  information  related  to  various government schemes, policies and programmes to enable them to avail the benefits. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) component of the scheme, is for preventing gender biased sexselection and also focuses on awareness generation on gender equality and discouraging child marriage. The BBBP has played a pivotal role in the psyche of citizens towards valuing the girl child. The component of Shakti Sadan provides help and support to women in distress, destitute and victims of unfortunate circumstances including the victims of trafficking. The Sakhi Niwas component is for providing safe and affordable accommodation with childcare facilities to the working women and women and girls pursuing higher education and training for employment and self-employment. The Palna component provides childcare facilities in the Anganwadi -cumcrèches to promote women's participation in the workforce. The Hubs for Empowerment of Women at the national, state and district levels address the issue of information asymmetry with regard to government schemes pertaining to women in rural and urban areas. Under the Pradhan  Mantri  Mantru  Vandana  Yojana  (PMMVY),  cash  benefits  through  direct  benefit transfer (DBT) mode are provided to pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Recognizing language as a fundamental force for positive cultural change, striving to cultivate an  environment  where  diverse  perspectives  are  acknowledged,  valued,  and  empowered, Government  launched  a  Guide  on  Gender-Inclusive  Communication,  in  November  2023, aimed at changing entrenched linguistic norms to promote and provide practical insights and strategies to overcome the deeply rooted biases present in language.

Together, these measures demonstrate a comprehensive approach to women's empowerment, which also extends to increasing representation of women in non-traditional sectors such as Science,  Technology,  Engineering  and  Mathematics  (STEM),  through  Women  Scientist Scheme, Vigyan Jyoti scheme, Overseas Fellowship Scheme etc.

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