J&K Government announces first-of-its-kind Women Industrial Estate in Udhampur

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 15 September 2021

The Jammu and Kashmir government announced on Tuesday that a women's industrial estate will be built in Udhampur district to help women entrepreneurs thrive in the Union Territory.

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha made the statement during the launch of the UT's Mission "One Gram Panchayat-One DIGI-Pay Sakhi" on Tuesday at the Jammu & Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) in Pampore. In distant areas of the state, the new Mission will encourage door-to-door digital banking and financial services.

The LG added that the J&K government has launched a popular movement for the socio-economic upliftment of women across the UT, describing ‘Nari Shakti's' social and economic independence as the backbone of any nation's prosperity.

“These three new initiatives of Digi-Pay, Krishi, and Pashu Sakhi, besides several other programs of women empowerment such as Hausla, Tejaswini, UMEED, Rise Together will further accelerate efforts of J&K government in Empowering Women and making them key partner in UT’s development journey,” Sinha said, as per the official spokesperson.

According to the LG, DIGI-Pay Sakhi has brought financial inclusion to the UT's Self Help Group (SHG) ecosystem, providing much-needed financial access points with improved transparency, even in the most remote places.

“Apart from depositing money, the village population can also avail the benefits of the additional banking and financial services such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maandhan Yojana, registration of Kisan Credit Card etc,” the LG said.

According to the official spokeswoman, the LG emphasised that the huge marginalised sector of our country's population was connected to the formal financial system through the Trinity of JAM- Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's imaginative initiatives.

“We are following the ideals of the Prime Minister and creating new mediums to take the banking services to the doorsteps of the people. Sustained efforts to achieve financial inclusion have empowered the deprived sections by giving financial assistance, benefits of PM-Kisan, increased wages under MNREGA during the Corona pandemic,” Sinha said.

According to an official spokeswoman for the LG, while emphasising the importance of women in the rural informal sector, programmes such as Krishi Sakhi and Pashu Sakhi will go a long way in empowering our women in agriculture and the allied industry.

The LG, he said, asserted that women's empowerment is essential for the development of a family, society, region, country, world, and humanity, and that the UT administration is taking several ground-breaking steps to transform the lives of women in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly those living in rural areas, by engaging them in gainful livelihood interventions.

He added that the LG also announced the establishment of a first-of-its-kind Women Industrial Estate in Udhampur Industrial Estate, which will further boost the J&K Women Entrepreneurs Ecosystem.