Among the other New Year rituals, our honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi also had one. In a special New Year’s address, he had something for everyone. He announced numerous incentives for the poor, farmers, women and small businesses. These incentives come ahead in the government’s annual budget that is further proposed in the parliament. From giving initiatives to the poor in the housing to taking loans and giving certain benefits to the farmers he mentioned it all.
What did he initiate for women? He introduced a nationwide pregnancy aid scheme for financial assistance to pregnant women where 6,000 rupees will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children. It is currently being implemented in 53 districts with the benefit amount being Rs 4,000. The scheme will now be applicable over 650 districts of the country with the amount updated to 6,000 rupees. This is a major leap, as India has a very high maternal mortality rate in the world with over many women dying every day because of pregnancy-related problems. Modi Ji also aims to double the number of people who benefit from an institution designed to direct credit to disadvantaged people from nearly 35 million people now by giving priority to women also.
This Pregnancy Aid Yojana is very necessary considering how the rural women population still struggles with delivering a child and to reducing maternal mortality rate in a big way other than ensuring better nutrition before and after the delivery and improving the health of the mother and the child. This step can come a long way as the financial safety of the women while delivering a child can improve the overall development of the child.
The Centre for Social Research that has been working for women empowerment for almost three decades now launched an app called “SoSec“. This app has been developed to bridge the gap between the agencies of the Government providing services and administering welfare schemes and the community members using them. It provides clear information on the benefits, eligibility and time frames of the different schemes.
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