Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been visiting Uttar Pradesh on a regular basis recently, will return on December 21 for a Prayagraj event geared at women’s empowerment through self-help organisations. The government claims that approximately 2 lakh women would attend the “one-of-a-kind” event, in which PM Modi will begin a Rs 1,000 crore transfer to Self Help Groups (SHGs).
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The event takes place at a time when the Congress has made women’s empowerment one of its top promises ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. During the event, the PM will also lay the foundation stone for over 200 supplemental nutrition production facilities. These facilities, which will be built at a cost of around Rs 1 crore apiece and supported by SHGs, would provide Supplementary Nutrition under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in 600 blocks across the state.
80,000 SHGs will get a Community Investment Money (CIF) of Rs 1.10 lakh each, and 60,000 SHGs would receive a Revolving Fund of Rs 1,500 each, as part of the Rs 1,000 crore fund transfer. Apart from that, PM Modi would deposit Rs 4,000 in the accounts of 20,000 Business Correspondent-Sakhis (BC-Sakhis) for the first month’s pay. These business Sakhis are paid a stipend of Rs 4,000 for six months to provide financial services at the grassroots level in rural regions.
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Later on, they are anticipated to profit from transaction commissions. The PM would pay over Rs 20 crore to more than 1 lakh beneficiaries of the Mukhya Mantri Kanya Sumangala Scheme, which intends to provide conditional cash transfers to a female child at various stages of her life, totalling Rs 15,000 per beneficiary, as part of a state government scheme for women.
