The development of women remained a focus of the ministry of rural development in 2024
Empowerment of women through self-help groups remained the focus of the rural development ministry by 2024, with 10.05 crore rural families covered in 90.87 lakh self-help groups in the country.
While the suspension of West Bengal’s funding under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), and initiatives such as the Aadhar Payment Bridge System (APBS) and the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) were criticized, the Department maintained that the new technology – based solutions are not an obstacle to the system, and we emphasized that West Bengal’s payments were stopped due to ‘non-compliance’.
Women are still focused on rural development projects. According to the department’s data, up to the beginning of December this financial year, more than 6.7 million workers from approximately 5 million families across the country have been employed under MGNREGS and more than half of the beneficiaries are women.
Until the beginning of December, 198.02 days of employment have been generated this fiscal year, and in 2023-24, the number was 312.24. While concerns were raised about the removal of job cards, department officials said that around 35.57 lakh MGNREGS job cards were removed this fiscal year, and 38.52 lakh new job cards were issued.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin, the flagship rural housing scheme, all new houses built in the last two years have been approved in the name of women beneficiaries, or joint ownership of a male and female family member, and the focus is now on connecting women beneficiaries with the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM ) for economic development.
According to senior officials of this department, 27% of all beneficiaries are women, and 46% of houses are under joint ownership.
“Approximately 74 percent of the approved houses are owned by women alone or jointly,” said one of the officials.
The official said that they are now trying to bring the women beneficiaries within the NRLM, so that they can develop economically.
The National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) is an anti-poverty program carried out by the ministry that helps the poor in rural areas to form self help groups (SHGs), to improve their income. The ‘Lakhpati Didi’ initiative of the government aims to empower women members of SHGs to earn Rs 1 lakh annually.
PMAY-G, where Rs 1.20 lakh is given to construct a house in barren areas and Rs 1.30 lakh in the north-eastern region and hilly districts, has become a rallying point for many other schemes.
To build a house under PMAY, 90 days wages of skilled workers are given under Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), while Rs 12,000 is given under Swachh Bharat Mission for building toilets.
This program is also linked with other programs like Ujjawala Yojana to provide cooking gas to the beneficiaries, Jal Jeevan Mission for water connection, electricity connection is provided, and now it is being integrated with PM Surya Ghar program to provide solar energy, and to provide construction work. training for local people in rural areas.
About 2.80 lakh village marchers have also been trained under PMAY-G, where they have been given certificates.
PMAYG, the flagship rural housing scheme launched in 2016, was targeted for construction of 2.95 pucca houses in five years. According to the department, 2.67 crore houses have been constructed under PMAY-G since the launch of the scheme, while around 77 lakh houses pending under Indira Gandhi Awas Yojana have also been completed.
According to government officials the remaining 35 lakh houses that are not completed till March 31 will also be completed to reach the target of 2.95 crore houses of the previous phase.
The second phase of the scheme, which was approved by the Union Cabinet earlier this year, targets the construction of two thousand additional houses.
More than 1.15 crore women SHG members are ‘Lakhpati Didis’ with an annual family income of more than Rs. 1 lakh. According to department officials, it has improved labor participation, and the number of women reporting second jobs is 4 percent higher in medical facilities.
It has also improved access to other programs, and the number of social programs available in nursing homes is 6.5 percent higher.
The DAY-NRLM impact assessment study conducted in 2019-20 by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation with the support of the World Bank, showed that there was an increase in the income of women registered with SHGs by 19 percent over the baseline value. , there was a decrease in the share of informal loans by 20 percent and savings increased by 28 percent.
