Govt hikes funds for women and children by 27 per cent

New Delhi: Presenting his fourth Union Budget, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday announced an increase of 27 per cent in the Budget allocation for Women and Child Development (WCD) ministry, other than an increase of funds for the welfare of women and children under various schemes across all ministries.

An allocation of Rs 22,095 crore has been made for the ministry of WCD, showing an increase of 27% from last year. The FM increased the funds from Rs 1, 56, 528 crore (2016-17) to Rs 1, 84, 632 crore (2017-18) for the welfare of women and children under the other schemes in other ministries. Stating that ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ begins with girl child and women, Mr Jaitley announced setting up Mahila Shakti Kendras at village level in 14 lakh anganwadi centres with a total allocation of Rs 500 crore.

He said these centres will provide one stop convergent support services for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition. He also said that under the nationwide scheme for financial assistance to pregnant women announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 31, 2016, Rs 6,000 each will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children.

The allocation for the flagship scheme-Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme saw a major jump of Rs 200 cr this year, an allocation of Rs 16,745 crore is announced for the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme for 2017-18 as compared the earlier allocation of Rs 14850 in 2016-17. Satisfied with the budget, the Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that an adequate provision of funds will help the ministry to push forward the much needed schemes and programmes for the safety, protection and development of women and children.