The gross enrolment ratio (GER) of girls in schools has seen a substantial increase across the country post the implementation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship programme ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’, Union Minister of State for AYUSH and Women and Child Development Mahendra Munjapara said.
He was addressing a zonal meeting on ‘Aspirational Districts and Impact on Women and Children’ on Thursday.
Mr. Munjapara said that the GER has gone up by 11%. Speaking on the initiatives taken to enhance safety of women at public places, he said that 780 one-stop centres have been set up across the country which have extended assistance to over 5.20 lakh women.
He added that around 70 lakhs calls were addressed for women in distress through the women helpline centres.
Highlighting women empowerment, he said that 68% of the Mudra accounts are in the names of women, which is testament to the government’s commitment towards women empowerment.
“The Nirbhaya Fund constituted by the Centre has supported 34 new projects and schemes with targeted interventions taking the total amount to nearly ₹10,000 crore. The purpose of the fund is to enhance protection and security and make the public spaces safer for women,” he said.
“There are over 12 lakh pucca Anganwadi centres across the country having drinking water facilities and over 11 lakh centres having functional toilets. The aim is to strengthen infrastructure in all remaining Anganwadis,” he said.
Women and Child Development Department Secretary Indevar Pandey, speaking about Visakhapatnam, said that the district has huge tracts of tribal areas which are underdeveloped and are languishing in backwardness. He said the Union government wants overall development in all pockets of the country.
Earlier, A.P. Minster for Women and Children Welfare K.V. Ushashri Charan briefed about the schemes of the government.
She said that under the YSR Sampoorna Poshana scheme, about 7.5 lakh lactating women and close to 25 lakh children in the age group from 0 to 72 months, were being benefited.
Talking about women hygiene, she said that 123 lakh sanitary napkins were being distributed to women per month under the YSR Swechha programme across the State.
She pointed out that of all the welfare schemes being instituted by the government, 17 schemes completely deal with women and children.
Collector A. Mallikarjuna gave an overview of the schemes and their implementation in the district.
Collectors from ‘aspirational districts’ of A.P., Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala were present.
NITI Aayog’s Aspirational Districts Mission Director Rakesh Ranjan, A.P. Women and Children Special Secretary A.R. Anuradha and Union Government Women and Child welfare Additional Secretary Aditi Das Rout and other officials were present.
