Telangana’s welfare programmes for women empowerment

On the occasion of International Women's Day, here are some welfare programmes from Telangana for women empowerment

Hyderabad: Since the formation of Telangana, the State government has extended loans worth Rs 85,000 crore to women Self-Help Groups, established She Teams and extended financial assistance of over Rs 10,000 crore under Kalyana Lakshmi while Rs 1,176 crore was spent towards implementation of the KCR Kits distribution scheme.

These programmes sum up the Telangana government’s initiatives towards ensuring welfare and empowerment of women in the State. These programmes were appreciated by different organisations, especially NITI Aayog in prioritizing women’s health and well-being.

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Assistance to SHGs

Self Help Groups (SHGs) play an important role in women empowerment and facilitating bank linkages has instilled a new confidence among many women, besides promoting entrepreneurship skills. In rural areas, the amount disbursed to SHGs has tripled from Rs 3,738.67 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 12,684.59 crore by 2022-23. So far 1,458.97 crore has been provided to 18,680 SHGs in urban areas. There are 4.31 lakh SHGs across the State with over 46 lakh members. Telangana government has accorded top priority for extending interest-free loans to SHGs.

Before formation of the State, the successive governments had extended interest-free loans worth Rs 21,978 crore . After Telangana government came to power, in the last eight years, loans worth Rs 66,624 crore were given to the SHGs.

She-Teams for Women’s Safety

Emphasizing on women’s safety, the State government for the first time in the country established the Women Safety Wing led by an Additional Director General of Police and took steps to increase the self-confidence of women.

As part of this, She Teams, Bharosa Centre, She Bharosa Cyber Lab, Prevention of Human Trafficking along with Operation Smile, Muskan too were introduced and were being implemented effectively.

Women can lodge complaints either directly or indirectly at the six Bharosa Centres, including Hyderabad, Vikarabad, Warangal, Sangareddy, Nalgonda and Suryapet.

In addition to these, the police department is initiating measures to set up more centres in Medchal Malkajgiri, Medak, Khammam and Karimnagar districts apart from in the Old City and in the Cyberabad and Rachakonda Police Commissionerates.

Kalyana Lakshmi/Shadi Mubarak Scheme

The Telangana government, to control child marriages and extend financial assistance to SC, ST and minority families to perform marriages of their children, launched the Kalyana Lakshmi or Shadi Mubarak scheme.

Women above 18 years of age can apply for financial assistance for their wedding expenses. After the implementation of this scheme, not only the percentage of child marriages decreased but also women’s literacy improved.

Till January 2023, a total of 2.4 lakh SC, 1.5 lakh ST, 5.9 lakh BC and 2.4 lakh minority families have benefited under the scheme. Through this scheme, brides belonging to SC, ST and minority families got about Rs. 10,000 crores of financial assistance from the government.

KCR Kit

Telangana is the only State in the country which is implementing the KCR Kits distribution scheme. Under this initiative launched on June 2, 2017, to overcome the nutritional and immunization deficiencies, the government provides 15 types of items required for the health care of babies.

Till date, 13,29,951 women have been benefited under the scheme and the government spent Rs.1,176 crores. More importantly, the scheme has aided in increasing institutional deliveries from 30 percent to 62 per cent due to effective implementation of the scheme.