An allocation of Rs 22095 cr has been made for the Ministry of Women and Child Development in the Budget for the Financial Year 2017-18, showing an increase of 27% over the year 2016-17 (BE). The Budget, presented in the Parliament today by the Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley also includes a provision of Rs 2700 cr for the Maternity Benefit Programme announced by the Prime Minister , Shri Narendra Modi for pregnant women across the country. Under this scheme, Rs 6000 each will be transferred directly to bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children.

The Finance Minister , in his Budget Speech also announced Rs 500 cr for setting up Mahila Shakti Kendras at village level in the Anganwadi Centres. This will provide one stop convergent support services for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy , health and nutrition. For the welfare of Women and Children under various schemes across all Ministries, the allocation has been stepped up from Rs 1,56,528 cr in BE 2016-17 to Rs 1,84,632 cr in 2017-18, stated the Finance Minister.

In the Budget, there is an allocation of Rs 16745 cr for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme for the FY 2017-18 as compared to the allocation of Rs 14850 in BE 2016-17 for ICDS. The allocation for the flagship Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme has also been doubled to Rs 200 cr in this year. An amount of Rs 200 cr has been provisioned for the National Creche Scheme, while the scheme for adolescent girls has been apportioned Rs 460 cr. Rs 50 cr is proposed to be spent on Hostels for Working Women. The Child Protection Scheme has also seen a substantial increase to Rs 648 cr as compared to Rs 397 cr in BE 2106-17.

The Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has expressed satisfaction at the Budgetary provisions for the Ministry of Women and Child Development . She has thanked the Prime Minister for the 27% increase in the budget for welfare of women and children. The WCD Minister has said that adequate provision of funds will help the Ministry to push forward the much needed schemes and programmes for the safety, protection and development of women and children.

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