On March 3, 2020, the Ministry of Finance (FinMin) has released figures related to various schemes having special provisions for empowerment of women. The figures showed that in the last 6 years these schemes have benefited women and women entrepreneurs to lead a better life.
Let’s take a look on the schemes and how these accelerated women empowerment:
Stand-Up India Scheme: Launched in 2016 to promote entrepreneurship for economic empowerment and job creation, this scheme facilitate bank loans between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch of SCBs for setting up a Greenfield enterprise.
Effect- As on 17.02.2020, more than 81% account holders under Stand Up India Scheme are women. 73,155 accounts have been opened for women. Rs. 16712.72 crore has been sanctioned for women account holders and Rs. 9106.13 crore has been disbursed for women account holders.
Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY): Launched on April 8, 2015 for providing loans up to 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises, PMMY created MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) with three products namely ‘Shishu’, ‘Kishore’ and ‘Tarun’ to signify the funding needs of the beneficiary. These loans are given by Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Small Finance Banks (SFBs), Micro finance Institutions (MFIs) and NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Company).
Effect- As on 31.01.2020, more than 22.53 crore loans have been sanctioned since launch of the scheme. Out of this, more than 15.75 crore loans extended to women, thereby 70% of the total loan borrowers are Women.
Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY): Launched on 28th August, 2014, the scheme aims to universal access to banking facilities with at least one basic banking account for every adult. The scheme has been extended and revised with effect from 14.08.2018.
Effect- As on 19.02.2020, 20.33 crore beneficiaries out of 38.13 crore beneficiaries are women which amounts to 53 %.
Atal Pension Yojana (APY): Launched on 9th May, 2015, it offers guaranteed minimum monthly pension of Rs. 1000 -Rs. 5000 at the age of 60 years.
Effect- As on 22.02.2020, more than 93 lakh subscribers (43%) out of a total of around 2.15 crore subscribers under APY are women.Women enrolment under APY has shown a steady increase from 37% (December 2016) to 43% (February 2020) specially in States /UTs of Sikkim (73%), Tamil Nadu (56%), Kerala (56%), Andhra Pradesh (55%), Puducherry (54%), Meghalaya (54%), Jharkhand (54%), Bihar (52%).
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY): Launched on 9th May 2015, PMJJBY provides a renewable life insurance cover of Rs.2 lakhs with just a premium of Rs.330 in the age group of 18-50 years.
Effect- As on 31.01.2020, under PMJJBY, 40.70% enrollments are of women members and 58.21% of claim beneficiaries are women. 1,91,96,805 females have enrolled out of a total of 4,71,71,568 enrollments. 95,508 claims have been paid to female beneficiaries out of a total of 1,69,216 claims paid.
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY): Launched on 9th May 2015, provide a very affordable insurance scheme for the poor and underprivileged people in the age group of 18 to 70 years with a bank account at a premium of Rs.12 per annum; risk coverage of Rs.2 lakhs for accidental death and full disability and Rs.1 lakh for partial disability.
Effect- As on 31.01.2020 41.50% enrollments are of women members and 61.29% of claim beneficiaries are women. 6,27,76,282 females have enrolled out of a total of 15,12,54,678 enrollments. 23,894 claims have been paid to female beneficiaries out of a total of 38,988 claims paid.
About Finance Ministry:
Union Minister– Nirmala Sitharaman
Finance Secretary– Ajay Bhushan Pandey
