Budget 2024: Empowerment of women through entrepreneurship, ease of living and dignity has gained momentum in the last 10 years, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today on 01 February, 2024, while presenting the Budget in the Lok Sabha.
Sitharaman in her pre-election Budget, which is technically a vote on account and is popularly termed an Interim Budget, highlighted that out of the total 44.46 crore loans sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) in 2023, 30.64 crore (69%) have been sanctioned to women.
Further under Stand-up India (SUPI), as on 24, November, 2023, out of 2.09 lakh loans sanctioned, 1.77 lakh (84%) have been sanctioned to women entrepreneurs.
She also pointed out elevating facts like female enrollment in higher education going up by 28% in the last 10 years.
In STEM courses, girls and women constitute 43% of enrollment, one of the highest in the world. All these are reflected in the increasing participation of women in the workforce, FM Sitharaman said.
During the Budget presentation, one major development in this space that stood out was the enhanced target of ‘Lakhpati Didis’ the self help group workers who earn sustainable income of at least one lakh rupees a year.
A robust number of 83 lakh SHGs with nine crore women are transforming rural socio-economic landscape with empowerment and self-reliance. Their success has assisted nearly 1 crore women to become lakhpati didi already.
Buoyed by the success, it has been decided to enhance the target of lakhpati didi from 2 crore to 3 crore, the minister told parliament in her budget speech.
Also read: Union Budget 2024 Highlights: Top announcements of FM Sitharaman’s Budget 2024
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Besides this, making Triple Talaq illegal, one-third of women’s reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, and giving over 70% of houses under PM Awas Yojana in rural areas to women as sole or joint owners have also significantly enhanced their dignity, she added.
FM declared that the government’s focus continues to remain on four major groups — Poor, farmers, women and youth.
