Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) accords priority for gender empowerment through its policies and programmes. The Gender Programme is integrated within Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana -National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) interventions. DAY-NRLM recognizes addressing gender inequality as a pre-requisite to social and economic empowerment. The Programme builds capacity of State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) to integrate Gender in its operations and create an architecture of support at the community level for women’s collectives to identify and take action on gender discriminatory practices. Series of training and perspective-building inputs are made available on these platforms and are provided to Social Action Committees (SAC) under Village organization (VO), and cluster level federation (CLF) by the trained pool of Gender Cadres. These bodies primarily function on the premise of uplifting women’s condition and position in society by identifying, acknowledging, and addressing issues of discrimination. The program also conducts several large-scale advocacy outreach through the National Gender Campaign (Nayi Chetna). DAY NRLM is empowering women SHGs to access credit from Banks from Banks. Credit accessed by women Self Help Groups during the last five years is as under:

1. 2019-20 Rs. 70,977 crores
2. 2020-21 Rs. 84,717 crores
3. 2021-22 Rs. 1,20,477 crores
4. 2022-23 Rs. 1,57,370 crores
5. 2023-24 Rs. 2,07,820 crores

Further, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, being implemented by MoRD requires that priority shall be given to women in such a way that at least one-third of the beneficiaries shall be women who have registered and requested for work. Mahatma Gandhi NREGS is a gender-neutral scheme that promotes participation of women by providing wage parity with men, provision of separate schedule of rates of wages for women, facilities for crèche, work-side sheds for children and child care services. In convergence with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), women mates have also been introduced, which again facilitates the participation of women. The rate of participation of women (percentage of women person-days out of a total in percentage) under Mahatma Gandhi NREGS from 2019-20 to 2023-24 is given below: -

(As per NREGASoft)

MoRD is implementing a women-specific Scheme i.e. Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS) under National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). The central pension under the IGNWPS is Rs. 300/- per month per beneficiary. State Governments have been advised to contribute at least an equal amount from their resources. The applicant must be a widow in the age group of 40-79 years. The applicant should belong to a Below Poverty Line (BPL) household according to the criteria prescribed by the Central Government. On reaching the age of 80 years, the beneficiaries get enhanced assistance of Rs.500/- per month. At present widow beneficiaries are getting pension between Rs. 300/- to Rs. 2800/- depending on the State pension amount which varies from State to State. At present, the ceiling under the scheme for all States and UTs is pegged at 67.36 lakh.

MoRD is also implementing two welfare programmes in skill development for rural poor youth under NRLM as follows: -

1. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) which is a placement-linked skill development program for rural poor youth in the age group of 15-35 years. It empowers the rural poor youth with employable skills and facilitates their participation in regular labour markets, thus providing them with jobs having regular monthly wages at or above the minimum wages. Under DDU-GKY, coverage of 33% of women is mandatory. The details of the total candidates and women candidates trained and placed for the last 5 years under DDU-GKY is provided below:

 

 

2. Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETI) scheme is applicable to all the categories including women. Any unemployed youth in the age group of 18-45 years, irrespective of Caste, Creed, Religion, Gender and Economic Status, having aptitude to take up self-employment or wage employment and having some basic knowledge in the related field can undergo training under RSETI. The details of the total candidates and women candidates trained and settled for the last 5 years under RSETIs is provided below:

 

The other schemes of MoRD accord priority to genders in general. The guidelines under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin provides that allotment of house shall be made jointly in the name of husband and wife, except in the case of widow/unmarried/separated person. The State may also choose to allot the house solely in the name of woman. Under Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (WDC-PMKSY), the scheme guidelines have enough provisions for giving representation to women during planning and implementation. four members watershed development team (WDT) set up by the project implementation agency for planning and implementation of the watershed projects should have at least 1 women member. Similarly, the 11 members Watershed Committee constituted by the Gram Sabha for executing project development activities at village level should have at least two women representatives. Further the self-help groups constituted under WDC-PMKSY have maximum women members.

So far as land ownership is concerned, SVAMITVA Scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj, which significantly contributes to the economic empowerment of rural women. By providing legally recognized property ownership in village Abadi areas, the scheme ensures that women, including those from marginalized communities, have secured land tenure. Further, as informed by Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Article 243D of the Constitution of India provides for not less than one-third reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), out of total number of seats to be filled by direct election and out of total number of offices of chairpersons of Panchayats. However, 21 States and 2 UTs, have gone even further and have made provisions of 50% reservation for women in PRIs in their respective Panchayati Raj Acts. As per the information available with the Ministry, 21 States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and 2 Union Territories namely "Lakshadweep" and "Dadra & Nagar haveli and Daman & Diu", have made provision for 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions in their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts. In respect of remaining States and Union Territories, Constitutional provision as prescribed in Article 243D (i.e. not less than one-third reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions) applies.

Government has been encouraging increased involvement of women in the functioning of Panchayats through active participation in the Gram Sabha meetings for preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plans and various schemes being implemented by the Panchayats. This Ministry has also issued advisories to the States to facilitate holding of separate Ward Sabha and Mahila Sabha meetings prior to Gram Sabha meetings, enhancing the presence and participation of women in Gram Sabha and Panchayat meetings, allocation of Panchayat funds for women centric activities, combating the evil of women trafficking, female foeticide, child marriage etc.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Rural Development Shri Kamlesh Paswan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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MG/KSR/1164

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