Setting the National Agenda of Women-led Development

Published By : Admin | March 14, 2019 | 14:52 IST

Women have been central to the grand vision of New India of the government led by PM Narendra Modi. PM Narendra Modi has been at the forefront of raising awareness on gender equality and women empowerment. He says that India needs not just women development, but women-led development that makes women the leading force of our development trajectory. Accordingly, the NDA government is focusing on comprehensive women empowerment.

Protection and Empowerment of the Girl Child

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative was launched in early 2015 to usher in a transformational shift in the way our society looks at the girl child. This initiative of the government has turned into a mass movement since its launch. There is a strong emphasis on mindset change through training, sensitization, awareness raising and community mobilization on the ground. Due to these efforts, the sex ratio at birth improved in 104 districts among those identified as gender-sensitive. 119 districts reported progress in first trimester registrations and 146 districts improved in institutional deliveries. Buoyed by the success of this initiative in these districts, BBBP has now been expanded across all 640 districts of the country.

Education plays an important role in empowering the girl child. Thanks to the relentless efforts of the government such as multiple scholarships for the education of girls, enrolment of girls in secondary schools is rising.
To ensure the financial security of the girl child, Pradhan Mantri Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana was introduced. Its resounding success is visible in the fact that more than 1.5 crore Sukanya Samriddhi accounts have been opened with more than Rs. 30,000 crore deposited in them.

Financial Inclusion and Empowerment

To boost financial empowerment of women, making them beneficiaries of formal financial institutions is a crucial, enabling step. The seriousness of government’s intent to take forward the vision of women led development could be gauged from the fact that it has been working round the clock to maximize women’s access to education, skill training and institutional credit.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme has played a major role in the financial inclusion of women in the country. Over 18 crore women, both in rural and urban areas, for the first time, have access to formal banking and various financial services

Women have many skills that need financial capital that can help convert these skills into successful entrepreneurship opportunities. MUDRA Yojana was launched by PM Narendra Modi’s government to provide collateral-free loans to entrepreneurs and help them achieve their dreams. Another programme, Stand Up India, also provides entrepreneurship loans of up to Rs 1 crore to women or SC/ST entrepreneurs. Women have been at the forefront of making these programmes immensely successful. Over 10 crore women have availed entrepreneurship loans jointly from MUDRA and Stand Up India. Women constitute over 70% of MUDRA’s beneficiaries.

In the field of skill development, the participation of women has been phenomenal. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 2.0, almost half of the beneficiaries enrolled are women. The scheme provides a boost to women’s competencies and skills, increasing their employability and enabling them to become self-employed. Skilling women labour force is also critical to the agenda of women empowerment, since, a strong workforce of skilled female workers would enhance women’s bargaining power at the workplace.

The cycle of exploitation can be broken by a woman who is financially independent and is confident of her capabilities. Education and skill augment a woman’s agency in her household as well as community. With financial autonomy, her decision-making power is heightened and duly acknowledged by the society at large.

Encouraging Working Women

A major reason of such many women opting out of work in the organized sector was the unavailability of adequate paid maternity leave, thus forcing women to choose between caring for their newborn and their career growth. The government has acted decisively by passing the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2017, increasing the maximum period of paid maternity leaves to 26 weeks from the existing period of 12 weeks. The progressive step puts India as among the top few countries in the world in this respect. The landmark law has given a new life to the vision of women-led development as propagated by PM Narendra Modi.

For the first time, women officers in the Indian army will be eligible for Permanent Commission. The paves the way for a full length career for women aspirants in the armed forces in the near future.There has also been significant push to the women working at the grassroots. The Modi government has announced slew of benefit packages for ASHA and Anganwadi workers including taking care of their social security and increasing allowances. This has come as a huge encouragement to the tireless work they are doing.

Pathbreaking Programmes for Welfare of Women

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana and Swachh Bharat, both flagship programmes of the PM Narendra Modi led government, have become household names all across the country. Both of these programmes have raised the quality of life of crores of women, especially from the poorer sections.
Ujjwala Yojana, the programme that provides free LPG connections, has secured a smoke-free life for 6.7 crore women. It is helping them lead a healthy life while also helping them save the time and energy spent on looking for firewood.

Swachh Bharat has heralded a revolution in sanitation and helped women’s access to safe sanitation. Over 9.76 crore household toilets have been built and 5.52 lakh villages across 28 states/UTs have been declared ODF (open defecation free).

To help the presence of immovable assets in the name of women, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana gives preference to women.

Passport rules have been relaxed for single mothers so that they can get formalities done without any problems.
Thus, the NDA government, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, has ensured great strides in empowering women, by not just focusing on women development but on women-led development.

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6 Years of Jal Jeevan Mission: Transforming Lives, One Tap at a Time
August 14, 2025
QuoteJal Jeevan Mission has become a major development parameter to provide water to every household.” - PM Narendra Modi

For generations, the sight of women carrying pots of water on their heads was an everyday scene in rural India. It was more than a chore, it was a necessity that was an integral part of their everyday life. The water was brought back, often just one or two pots which had to be stretched for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and washing. It was a routine that left little time for rest, education, or income-generating work, and the burden fell most heavily on women.

Before 2014 water scarcity, one of India’s most pressing problems, was met with little urgency or vision. Access to safe drinking water was fragmented, villages relied on distant sources, and nationwide household tap connections were seen as unrealistic.

This reality began to shift in 2019, when the Government of India launched the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). A centrally sponsored initiative which aims at providing a Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household. At that time, only 3.2 crore rural households, a modest 16.7% of the total, had tap water. The rest still depended on community sources, often far from home.

As of July 2025, the progress under the Har Ghar Jal program has been exceptional, with 12.5 crore additional rural households connected, bringing the total to over 15.7 crore. The program has achieved 100% tap water coverage in 200 districts and over 2.6 lakh villages, with 8 states and 3 union territories now fully covered. For millions, this means not just access to water at home, but saved time, improved health, and restored dignity. Nearly 80% of tap water coverage has been achieved in 112 aspirational districts, a significant rise from less than 8%. Additionally, 59 lakh households in LWE districts have gained tap water connections, ensuring development reaches every corner. Acknowledging both the significant progress and the road ahead, the Union Budget 2025–26 announced the program’s extension until 2028 with an increased budget.

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The Jal Jeevan Mission, launched nationally in 2019, traces its origins to Gujarat, where Narendra Modi, as Chief Minister, tackled water scarcity in the arid state through the Sujalam Sufalam initiative. This effort formed a blueprint for a mission that would one day aim to provide tap water to every rural household in India.

Though drinking water is a State subject, the Government of India has taken on the role of a committed partner, providing technical and financial support while empowering States to plan and implement local solutions. To keep the Mission on track, a strong monitoring system links Aadhaar for targeting, geo-tags assets, conducts third-party inspections, and uses IoT devices to track village water flow.

The Jal Jeevan Mission’s objectives are as much about people as they are about pipes. By prioritizing underserved and water-stressed areas, ensuring that schools, Anganwadi centres, and health facilities have running water, and encouraging local communities to take ownership through contributions or shramdaan, the Mission aims to make safe water everyone’s responsibility..

The impact reaches far beyond convenience. The World Health Organization estimates that achieving JJM’s targets could save over 5.5 crore hours each day, time that can now be spent on education, work, or family. 9 crore women no longer need to fetch water from outside. WHO also projects that safe water for all could prevent nearly 4 lakh deaths from diarrhoeal disease and save Rs. 8.2 lakh crores in health costs. Additionally, according to IIM Bangalore and the International Labour Organization, JJM has generated nearly 3 crore person-years of employment during its build-out, with nearly 25 lakh women are trained to use Field testing Kits.

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From the quiet relief of a mother filling a glass of clean water in her kitchen, to the confidence of a school where children can drink without worry, the Jal Jeevan Mission is changing what it means to live in rural India.