Today on Feb 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2021-22. She announced some important reformation pertaining to women empowerment. Here are the details. FM Sitharaman said in the Union Budget presentation that free cooking gas LPG scheme, Ujjwala will be extended to one crore more beneficiaries. In the announcement she also stated that a gas pipeline project will be taken up in Jammu & Kashmir.
While tabling the budget, FM Sitharaman also stated that minimum wages will apply to all categories of workers. Women will be allowed to work in all categories and also in night shifts with adequate protection. This year several sectors were majorly hit due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many people lost their jobs, and women also came under the radar of the job cut. According to a report of Oxfam India, around 17 million women were left unemployed in April 2020. In the year 2020, FM Sitharaman allocated a total of Rs. 28,600 crore for programmes and schemes that were specifically aimed at women empowerment, and the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ was allocated Rs. 220 crore.
For workers in construction projects and building gigs, FM Sitharaman said, “Social security benefits will be extended to gig and platform workers. Minimum wages will apply to all categories of workers. Women will be allowed to work in all categories and also in night shifts with adequate protection. To further extend efforts towards unorganized labour force, I propose to launch a portal to collect relevant information on gig workers, building/construction workers among others. It’ll help formulate health, housing, skill, and insurance credit & food schemes for migrant workers.”
A budget of Rs. 1000 crores has been allocated for tea-workers, with an emphasis on women workers, especially in states of Assam and West Bengal. Apart from that FM Sitharaman emphasized that women empowerment is to be among the goals outlined in the ‘Aatmanirbhar’ India vision.
