Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday July 5, presented the Union Budget – a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for the year 2019-20 – in the Lok Sabha.
While laying her statement in the Parliament, Sitharama announced various reforms in railways, education, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, taxation. She even spoke her plans towards woman welfare in next five years.
Quoting Swami Vivekananda, Sitharaman started of by saying that “There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly with one wing”
She continued saying that rural India, unprivileged Indians, and Farmers in India are at the center of all programs formulated by the government on Union Budget 2019 but the government is also committed to forward the golden story of rural women’s participation in the economy.
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Nirmala Sitharaman said that contribution of women is significant in every sector. “The recent election saw record turnout of women voters, at par with men. We also have a record 78 women MPs in the House.”
“The government wishes to encourage and facilitate role of women. I propose a committee to evaluate and suggest measures to improve women’s welfare.”
“To encourage women entrepreneurship, Women SHG Interest Subvention Programme to be expanded to all districts in India. Every verified woman SHG member having a Jan Dhan account, an overdraft of Rs 5,000 will be allowed. One woman in every SHG shall be made eligible for a loan of Rs 1 lakh under MUDRA scheme.”
This will reinforce our approach of going beyond just women-centric policies to building women-led movements, said Sitharaman.
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