Interest subvention programme expanded for women SHGs

To encourage entrepreneurship among women through various schemes, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposed to expand the women self help group (SHG) interest subvention programme to all districts, announcing that one woman in every SHG will be made eligible for a loan up to Rs 1 lakh under the MUDRA scheme.

“Furthermore, for every verified woman SHG member having a 'Jan Dhan' bank account, an overdraft of Rs 5,000 shall be allowed,” she also announced while presenting the Union Budget for 2019-20 in Parliament on Friday.

The government has “supported and encouraged” women entrepreneurship through various schemes such as MUDRA, Stand-UP India and the Self Help Group (SHG) movement, she said.

“In order to further encourage women enterprise, I propose to expand the Women SHG interest subvention programme to all districts,” she said.

In India’s growth story, particularly in the rural economy, the role of women has been “a very sweet story.”

“This government wishes to encourage and facilitate this role of women.

Gender analysis of the budget aimed at examining the budgetary allocation through a gender lens has been in place for over a decade.

“I propose to form a broad-based committee with government and private stakeholders to evaluate and suggest action for moving forward,” she said.

The Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry Smriti Irani saw an increase in its budgetary allocation by over 18% over that of the last fiscal.

In the Union Budget, the Finance Ministry has allocated Rs 29164.90 crore to the ministry for 2019-20 against Rs 24,700 crore earmarked in the last fiscal.

“This government believes that we can make progress with greater women’s participation,” the Finance Minister said in her speech.