Schemes for Welfare of Women

A number of schemes for welfare of women are being implemented by the Ministry for Women and Child Development. The major schemes among these are:

(i) Working Women’s Hostel (WWH) Scheme envisages provision of safe and affordable hostel accommodation to working women, single working women, women working at places away from their home-towns and for women being trained for employment. The scheme has been revised recently.

(ii) Support to Training and Employment Programme (STEP) for Women was launched as a Central Sector Scheme during 1986-87. It aims at making a significant impact on women by upgrading skills for self and wage employment. The target group includes the marginalized assetless rural women and urban poor. This also includes wage labourers, unpaid daily workers, female headed households, women headed households and families below the poverty line.

(iii) SwadharGreh Scheme - The Ministry of Women and Child Development had been administering Swadhar Scheme since 2001 for women in difficult circumstances. Under the Scheme, temporary accommodation, maintenance and rehabilitative services are provided to women and girls rendered homeless due to family discord, crime, violence, mental stress, social ostracism. Another scheme with similar objectives/target groups namely Short Stay Home (SSH) was being implemented by Central Social Welfare Board. Being similar in objectives and target groups, both the schemes have been merged asSwadhar Greh scheme with revised financial parameters.

(iv) Indira Gandhi Matriva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) is a Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme for pregnant and lactating (P&L) women to contribute to better enabling environment by providing cash incentives for improved health and nutrition. The beneficiaries are paid Rs.4000/- in three instalments per P&L woman between the second trimester and till the child attains the age of 6 months, on fulfilling specific conditions.

(v) National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) is an initiative of the Government of India for empowering women holistically. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme sanctioned in April 2011 and acts as an umbrella Mission with a mandate to strengthen inter-sectoral convergence and facilitate the process of coordination of all the women’s welfare and socio-economic development programmes across Ministries and Departments.

(vi) Ujjawala is a comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Funds are released to NGOs as the scheme is being implemented mainly through NGOs.