Nari shakti’ offers G20 nations a women’s empowerment model

Source: The post is based on the article “‘Nari shakti’ offers G20 nations a women’s empowerment model” published in Live Mint on 28^th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Social Justice

Relevance: women empowerment

News: The article discusses the way India has led the empowerment of women and which can act as a model to showcase India’s efforts to G20 nations.

What are the different measures taken by India to empower women?

Nari Shakti Scheme: It funds women entrepreneurs by providing soft loans.

Women in Engineering Science and Technology (WEST) programme: It encourages women pursuing education in STEM subjects.

Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP): It is a unified access portal that brings together an ecosystem for women.

Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP): It has funded over 107,000 women entrepreneurs between 2016 and 2021. In addition, the government has mandated targeted procurement from women entrepreneurs.

Legislation: There law in India provides for reserving one-third of the seats for women in gram panchayats, panchayat samitis, zilla parishads, municipalities and municipal corporations.

Around 21 states have mandated 50% representation which has helped create local-level ecosystems for uplifting women and encouraging women’s participation in economic activities.

Self-Help Groups (SHGs): They have also contributed to women’s development.

Corporate sectors: The women workforce in corporate sectors have improved tremendously. For example, banking and finance services (31%), media sector (30%), IT services (34%-46%).

Women entrepreneurs: There are more than 20% of proprietary MSME units run by women in India. The accessibility to the internet has further increased female entrepreneurship in the country.

Hence, these all efforts and measures taken by India can be a model for other G20 nations.

What more can be done by India to ensure women’s empowerment?

There is a need to focus on three critical areas: a) women in STEM, b) women-led enterprises and c) women at the grassroots level.

These will have a huge impact on women’s development and will help G20 economies reduce gender gaps and inequality, as envisaged under the UN Sustainable Development Agenda.