- Reenu Thakur, Assistant Public Relations Officer
Raipur, 01 May 2023
To empower women, along with health-education, they have to be given rights and secure opportunities to move forward. It is also necessary to create new avenues to make them financially prosperous. With this thinking, the Government of Chhattisgarh has adopted a policy of empowering women and their self-reliance. On the initiative of Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel, along with increasing the creative capacity of women, their creative capacity has been linked with local resources. This approach related to the personal, social and economic status of women opens new dimensions of development for them.
According to the India Index report for the year 2020-21 released by NITI Aayog, Chhattisgarh ranks first in gender equality. Due to the special attention paid by the state government to maternal and child health, the MMR of Chhattisgarh which was 159 between 2016 and 2018 has now come down to 137. Chhattisgarh has got great success in the fight against malnutrition and anaemia. In Chhattisgarh, 2 lakh 65 thousand children have become malnutrition free and one lakh 50 lakh women have become anaemia-free since the Mukhyamantri Supashan Abhiyan started from October 2, 2019. Chhattisgarh ranks third in the country in providing IFA (Iron Folic Acid) supplementation to children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women under Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyan.
Two and a half lakh women’s groups are associated with Bihaan – It is the result of the policies adopted for the progress of women in Chhattisgarh and their protection, that more than 50 thousand women are contributing to the economic progress of Chhattisgarh by joining the forest produce business here. At the same time, rural women in the District Mineral Trust Fund Board are also preparing policies for themselves as members of the Gram Sabha. About 300 rural industrial parks have been started in the state, where women are getting good employment and good income. To connect women with the banking process, about four thousand sisters in the form of BC Sakhi are taking banking facilities to remote areas in the form of a mobile bank. Chhattisgarh State Rural Livelihood Mission: About 27 lakh women from poor families are associated with 02 lakh 54 thousand self-help groups.
Denex shines with women’s laborBastar’s Danteshwari Fighters, who are courageously fighting the Naxalites in the dense forests of Bastar, have become an inspiration for the entire country. Under the Godhan Nyaya Yojana, about 45 percent participation of women in the Gauthans built in every village is by women. These women are not only becoming empowered through economic activities in Gothans, but have also become a support for their families. Economic empowerment of women is happening with new concepts like Rural Industrial Park and C-Mart store being built in Gothans. Goods made by women are getting market. The women working in the Denex Garment Factory of Dantewada, a tribal district of Bastar, have set a new example of economic empowerment by popularizing the Denex brand in the country and abroad. Mahua Ladd of women of Bijapur, Tikhur Shake of Kondagaon, tamarind-candy of Sukma and Phool Jhadu of Narayanpur have also become famous.
Budget of Women’s Fund 25 crores-With a view to encourage women’s groups involved in economic activities by taking loan from Mahila Kosh, the old loan of Rs 12 crore taken by the group has been waived off. Along with this, the limit of taking loan has also been increased from two to four times. The loan limit given by Mahila Kosh has also been doubled. A historic increase has been made in the budget of the Women’s Fund. In earlier years, one or two crore annual allocation was available to Mahila Kosh, but in the year 2023-24, an annual budget of Rs 25 crore has been made available. In the financial year 2022-23, Chhattisgarh Mahila Kosh has sanctioned maximum loan amount of more than Rs 10 crore 70 lakh for more than 10 thousand 500 women in the last 5 years. There is a plan to start new Kaushalya Samridhi Yojana, in which women will be given loan at 3 percent interest rate on easy terms for business. For this, a budget of Rs 25 crore has been additionally approved.
Women Entrepreneurship Policy – The more empowered women are, the faster the development of the state will be, in view of this, Women Entrepreneurship Policy 2023-28 has been implemented in Chhattisgarh to give a new height to the potential of women. In this, along with giving financial assistance to women for setting up enterprises, many types of exemptions have been provided. Several provisions have been made for women entrepreneurs of the state for manufacturing venture projects, along with a loan of Rs 10 to 50 lakh, exemption from electricity duty, additional stamp duty, transport grant, exemption from mandi fee, rent grant. A provision of 5 percent additional grant and one year additional exemption has also been made for women self-help groups and start-up enterprises established by women, this will further increase the participation of women in industry and trade.
Ration card and house in the name of womenChhattisgarh government is giving one percent discount on land and property registration to promote women. Ration cards and house allotments are being made in the name of women. In order to safeguard the rights of women in government services, arrangements have been made to compulsorily keep a woman representative in the committees formed for recruitment, promotion, scrutiny of documents. To prevent sexual crimes, a committee has been formed in each office, which investigates the matter and submits a report to the senior officers for taking necessary action.
Hostels for working women – Along with working hostels in every division, women’s hostels have been started in the district headquarters. Help desks for women are operated in the police stations, so that women can move forward with strength. Abhivyakti app has been created by the Chhattisgarh Police to help. Through women helpline number 181 and Sakhi Centre, immediate help and shelter is also being provided to the victimized women. So far 37 thousand 158 women have been provided assistance and 13 thousand 750 women have been given shelter. Assistance has been provided to 4331 women in cases of domestic violence through Nava Bihan Yojana.
Enhanced value and enhanced honorarium –The state government has increased the honor of women workers who are taking care of the health and well-being of a large number of women and children by increasing their honorarium. In this year’s budget, while increasing the monthly honorarium of Anganwadi workers working in 46 thousand 660 Anganwadi centers of the state, it has now been increased from Rs 06 thousand 500 to Rs 10 thousand per month. The honorarium of Anganwadi assistants has been increased from Rs 03 thousand 250 to Rs 5 thousand per month. The honorarium of mini Anganwadi workers has been increased from Rs 04 thousand 500 to Rs 07 thousand 500 per month. In addition to the incentive amount given to Mitanin sisters, a provision has also been made in the budget to give honorarium at the rate of Rs. Along with this, the honorarium of the cooks who prepare the mid-day meal has also been increased.
Now 50 thousand for the marriage of girls – Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel has taken many decisions keeping in mind the respect and honor of women and their families in the social background. He has given a big relief for the marriage of daughters by increasing the amount of assistance given under the Chief Minister Kanya Vivah Yojana twice during his tenure. In 2019, this amount was increased from Rs 15 thousand to Rs 25 thousand and now it has been increased to Rs 50 thousand. The amount of social security pension to the destitute, elderly, disabled, widow and abandoned women has also been increased.
9 New Women’s Colleges – In order to advance women in the field of education, it is also necessary to bring awareness by informing them about their rights. In view of this, 2239 legal and women awareness camps were organized last year. This year, the budget of Mahila Jagruti Shivir item has been doubled from 4.85 crore to 9.33 crore. Along with this, women are being informed about their officers and laws by reaching every village through Chief Minister Mahtari Nyaya Rath through the State Women’s Commission. With the opening of new women’s colleges in nine district headquarters of the state, avenues of higher education have been opened for women.
