Savings scheme for women, collectives to empower 81 lakh SHGs

Finance Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced a savings scheme to ensure the financial independence and security of women.

The Mahila Samman Bachat Patra will be a one-time savings scheme for girls and women to save up to Rs 2 lakh at a fixed interest rate of 7.5%, with a facility for partial withdrawal, said the finance minister.

Support for self-help groups

Sitharaman also announced that large producer enterprises or collectives would be formed to empower the self-help groups under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihood Mission.

Commenting on the success of the mission, Sitharaman said it had mobilised rural women into 81 lakh self-help groups. She said the collectives would each have several thousand members and be managed professionally to enable the groups to reach the "next stage of economic empowerment".

"They will be helped with supply of raw materials and for better design, quality, branding and marketing of their products. Through supporting policies, they will be enabled to scale up their operations to serve the large consumer markets, as has been the case with several start-ups growing into ‘unicorns’."

Sitharaman emphasised, “The economic empowerment of women is one opportunity which can be transformative in achieving our vision by focusing on the above areas.”

At the start of her speech, the finance minister stated that this year’s Budget is focused on facilitating opportunities for citizens, providing strong impetus to growth and job creation and strengthening macro-economic stability.

"The fruits of development from this Budget will reach all fronts including youth, women, SCs, and STs," she said, presenting the first Budget during Amrit Kaal.

In August 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had marked the beginning of the Amrit Mahotsav, entering the Amrit Kaal, a 25-year lead-up to celebrating 100 years of independence.

Last year, the finance minister had declared that nari shakti is the harbinger of a bright future and announced a slew of measures and schemes including Mission Shakti, Mission Vatsalya, Saksham Anganwadi, and Poshan 2.0 to provide integrated benefits to women and children.

Budget 2023 will also go down in history, where for the first time, a woman finance minister presented the budget under the leadership of a woman president.

(The story was updated to correct a typo in the headline)