Women are now key drivers of progress in India: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
Highlighting '11 years of Sashakt Nari', the Finance Minister said that under the PM Jan Dhan Yojna, the world's largest financial inclusion scheme, 55.7 per cent of accounts were held by women, which reflected their empowerment at the grassroots level.
She further pointed out that women now account for 68 per cent of the MUDRA loan beneficiaries nationwide. These loans have enabled lakhs of women to become entrepreneurs and pursue their dreams independently.
Apart from this, 74 per cent of those getting benefits under the Start-Up India entrepreneurs scheme are also women. Besides, 73 per cent of houses under the PMAY (Gramin) scheme for the poor are owned by women, she said.
The Finance Minister also mentioned that 10 crore LPG connections have been given to poor women under the Ujjwala Yojana. These have come as a big boon for them, making their life easier with accompanying health benefits. They have been freed from the harmful smoke of wood and other fuels, such as cow dung, that were used for cooking earlier.
The Jan Dhan scheme has been a huge success in financial inclusion, as the average bank balance per account in March 2015 was Rs 1,065, which has now increased to Rs 4,352. Around 80 per cent of the accounts are active, she added.
As many as 66.6 per cent of Jan Dhan accounts have been opened in rural and semi-urban areas, and 29.56 crore (55.7 per cent) belong to women account holders.
These accounts are used on a large scale. People are also depositing money in them. However, this scheme allows zero balance accounts, and only 8.4 per cent of the accounts have zero balance.
When the Modi government first came to power about 10 years ago, it set a target of providing financial and banking services to every citizen. For this, zero balance bank accounts were opened in the banks for the poorest of the poor under 'Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Yojana' launched on August 28, 2014.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
12 minutes ago
- The Hindu
BJP committed to uplift of denotified tribes, says Andhra party president Madhav
Ahead of the Denotified Tribes Liberation Day to be observed on August 31, the BJP State unit organised a roundtable with key leaders of the nomadic and denotified tribes in Vijayawada. Speaking on the occasion, BJP State president P.V.N. Madhav emphasised the Central government's efforts to recognise and uplift these marginalised communities. He said, 'It is the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre that has made budgetary allocation for the denotified tribes. These communities, once unfairly labeled as criminals by the British in 1957, have long suffered social discrimination and neglect.' In 1952, India had officially liberated these tribes from such stigmatisation. Later, under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's leadership, a commission had been constituted to study and recognise their societal contributions. 'The very first line of the commission's report says that if Indian culture is as rich as it is, it is due to the role of these nomadic communities,' Mr. Madhav observed. Since 2014, the Narendra Modi-led government had initiated steps to restore the identity and dignity of the denotified tribes, he said. 'These tribes also reside in Andhra Pradesh, and the BJP has undertaken studies to understand their challenges, including the lack of voting rights,' he added. 'We believe their struggles stem from systemic exclusion, including disenfranchisement. That's why we're formulating an action plan to safeguard their existence and promote their welfare,' Mr. Madhav added. 'Vajrotsavams' As part of the 75th Liberation Anniversary of these tribes, the BJP plans to conduct 'Vajrotsavams' (diamond jubilee celebrations) across all districts. A month-long series of programmes titled, 'Spurthi', will be organised, culminating in a grand celebration on August 30. MLA Dr. Parthasarathi, former IAS officer Dasari Srinivas Rao, BJP State general secretary B. Shivannarayana, and OBC Morcha State president Rongala Gopi Srinivas, among others, attended.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Delhi Confidential: Happy moment
Representing Varanasi in Lok Sabha since 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up an office there as a Lok Sabha MP, manned by seven-member staff. In the last over 11 years, the PM has visited this office only once, however, several ministers and other party leaders do visit the place. During the PM's trip to his constituency on Saturday, the PM met the staff on the backside of the dais after his public meeting. The PM spent a very few minutes with the staff and also stood for pictures with them. 'Vo bhi bahut khush the, hum sab bhi bahut khush hain (He was very happy, so were we),' one of the staff said after the meeting. Here & There As several ministries are in the process of moving out of North Block and Nirman Bhawan into the new office buildings built as a part of the Central Vista plan, last week saw officials shuffling from one building to another to attend internal meetings. While the Home ministry has shifted out of North Block completely, the Personnel ministry is in the process of moving to the new Common Central Secretariat. Similarly, the Housing and Urban Affairs ministry is yet to move into the new office block on K G Marg, but the Minister, Manohar Lal, has shifted his office. Sources say the shifting would be completed after the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Till then, some ministries may be operating out of multiple locations. Official Tally Data submitted by the Ministry of External Affairs in Parliament in response to two back-to-back questions from BJP Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu officially declared that PM Modi surpassed eight of his predecessors by getting awards and recognition from 27 nations in the last one decade. According to the MEA, Indian PMs received 14 international awards in almost six decades between 1956 and 2015.
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Modi, Shah call separately on President Murmu
. . . 1 2 NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called on President Droupadi Murmu amid a logjam in Parliament over the opposition's demand for a discussion on the special intensive revision exercise in Bihar ahead of assembly elections in the state. Home minister Amit Shah also called on the President separately later. The Rashtrapati Bhavan posted photos of both interactions on X. Except for discussions on Operation Sindoor, Parliament has seen little business since the monsoon session began on July 21. The meetings also came days after US President Trump announced 25% tariffs on Indian exports and an unspecified penalty over Russian purchases.
