: Sunday, 08 June 2025 5:12 pm
New Delhi. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday that women have emerged as a major driver of progress in the country in the last 11 years and the Narendra Modi government has introduced various schemes to empower women power.
Highlighting the ’11 years of powerful women’, the Finance Minister said that 55.7 percent accounts opened under the world’s largest financial inclusion scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, which reflect their empowerment at the grassroots level.
He further said that 68 percent of the Mudra loan beneficiaries across the country are women. These loans have enabled millions of women to become entrepreneurs and realize their dreams independently.
At the same time, 74 percent of those who get benefits under the Start-up India Entrepreneur Scheme are women. Apart from this, women owe 73 percent of the houses under the PMAY (Gramin) Scheme for the poor.
The Finance Minister said that under the Ujjwala scheme, 10 crore LPG connections have been given to poor women. These have proved to be a big boon for him, because it has made his life easier and has also got health benefits. Also, they have got rid of wood and other fuels such as dung harmful smoke, which was previously used for cooking.
Jan Dhan Yojana has been a major success in financial inclusion. The average bank balance per account of the accounts opened under this scheme in March 2015 was Rs 1,065, which has now increased to Rs 4,352. Currently, about 80 percent public money accounts are active.
66.6 percent Jan Dhan accounts have been opened in rural and semi-urban areas, out of which 29.56 crore (55.7 percent) accounts are with women.
About 10 years ago, when the Modi government came to power for the first time, he had targeted to provide financial and banking services to every citizen. For this, zero balance bank accounts were opened in banks for the poorest people under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ launched on 28 August 2014.
At present, only 8.4 percent of the public money accounts are zero balance.
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Web Title-Women are making a significant contribution to the economy development of the country: nirmala sitharanman
