Budget 2020: Nirmala Sitharaman allocates ₹28,600 crore for women-specific programmes

Slew of measures aimed at women

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds a folder containing the Union Budget documents, before its presentation in the Lok Sabha, at Parliament in New Delhi, on Feb. 1, 2020.

The government has allocated a total of ₹28,600 crore for programmes specifically aimed at women, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

Tabling the Union Budget for 2020-21, Ms. Sitharaman said the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme had yielded tremendous results.

“Gross enrolment ratio of girls across all levels of education is now higher than boys,” she said.

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Speaking on a slew of measures aimed at women, she said women were a priority, especially pregnant and lactating women.

Ms. Sitharaman said a total of ₹35,600 crore had been allocated for nutrition-related programmes.

“We will also appoint a task force to look into the issue of low age of girls entering motherhood,” she said.