Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister announce in her interim budget that the government has enhance the target of ‘Lakhpati Didis‘ the self help group workers who earn sustainable income of at least one lakh rupees a year.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said :
“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,”.
What is Lakhpati Didi Scheme?
During his Independence Day speech 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announce the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme to provide skill development training to 20 million women in villages across the country.
Under this scheme, the women would be train in skills like plumbing, LED bulb making and operating and repairing drones.
PM Modi said :
“Today there should be women self-help groups, with the aim of my 2 crore Lakhpati Didi, today we are working on women self-help groups. We, while promoting the potential of our women power, women-led development and when I have taken forward the topics of women-led development in G-20, the whole G-20 group is accepting its importance and accepting its importance,”.
Key Announcements about Budget on Women
The other budget announcements in Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech include extending healthcare insurance cover under Ayushman Bharat scheme to all anganwadi and ASHA workers.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman said :
“Female enrolment in higher education up by 28% in 10 years, in STEM courses, girls & women make 43% of enrolment, one of the highest in the world. All these steps are reflected in the increasing participation of women in the workforce. Making triple talaq illegal, reservation of 1/3 seats for women in Parliament and state assemblies, over 70 % houses under PM Awas Yojana to women have increased their dignity.”
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is the largest publicly fund health insurance scheme in the world that provides coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
