Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday said women empowerment was possible only when they improved their capacities.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy was speaking after crediting ₹1,109 crore directly into the accounts of 1.02 crore women belonging to the self-help groups as interest reimbursement under the ‘YSR Sunna Vaddi’ scheme.
The government was committed to empowering women, and had rolled out schemes such as Sunna Vaddi, Aasara, Cheyutha, and Jeva Kranthi to strengthen women in all aspects, he said.
This year too the government paid the interest amount to women who had taken loans from banks, he added.
He said the SHG women had been burdened with over ₹3,000 crore penal interest. The previous previous government had not waived off their loans as promised during the 2014 elections, he alleged.
Unlike the previous government, the YSRCP government had credited ₹1,400 crore under the ‘YSR Sunna Vaddi’ scheme in the first year of forming the government benefiting over 87 lakh women, the Chief Minister said.
The number of SHGs under the scheme increased to 9.34 lakh from 8.71 lakh, he added.
Nominated posts
The Chief Minister said that registration of houses was also done in the name of women. Similarly, a law was enacted allotting 50% of the nominated posts to women. The government had allotted over 60% posts in the recent municipal elections to women, he said. To ensure the safety of women, 18 Disha police stations had been set up across the State, he said.
Under the YSR Cheyutha scheme, a financial assistance of ₹18,750 was being given annually to women aged above 45 and belonging to the BC, SC, ST and minority communities at an expenditure of ₹4,604 crore, the Chief Minister said. Also, ₹6,792 crore had been spent on the YSR Aasara scheme. Besides, the government had entered into agreements with the multinational companies such as ITC, P&G, and Amul for providing business opportunities to women, he added.
Prohibition
The State government had also taken up prohibition in a phased manner to prevent domestic violence and closed over 43,000 illegal shops, 4,380 permit rooms, and limited wine shops to only 2,966.
Ministers P. Ramachandra Reddy and B. Satyanarayana, Principal Secretary Y. Srilakshmi, SERP CEO Rajababu, MEPMA MD V. Vijayalakshmi, officials and representatives of various banks were present.
