CM YS Jagan Transforms Women Empowerment From Slogan To Action In AP

Amaravati: The trajectory of social justice and women empowerment has charted the course of profound commitment in Andhra  Pradesh with  Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy showing the way to the nation what emancipation of weaker sections really is.

Empowerment of women and weaker sections is no more a slogan but has been translated into stark reality by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in his 21 months in office and has changed the nomenclature from Chairman to Chairperson.

In the just-concluded Municipal elections, 10 out of the 11 Municipal Corporations were given to weaker sections and six of them went to women who are heading  Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Tirupati Municipal Corporations as Mayors. Of the 86 posts of Mayors and Chairpersons, 52 are women logging 60.47 percent.

Committed to the all-around empowerment of women, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had taken this significant step by giving 52 posts to women, while the normal quota is only 42 posts. In Corporations alone, six out of 11 mayor posts were allocated to women, while 10 out 11 were given BC, SC, ST, and Minorities. Similarly, 78 percent of the elected mayors and chairpersons belong to the Dalit and backward communities.

Similarly, of the 728 posts of Chairpersons and Directors to the 56 BC Corporations, 368 are women, and additionally, one of the Deputy Chief Ministers and Home Minister are women in YS Jagan Mohan Reddy cabinet, marking true political empowerment by encouraging the women leadership.

Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government has provided 50 percent reservations for women and weaker sections in nominated posts and works as well. The commitment reflects in the composition of the cabinet and the choice of Deputy Chief Ministers as well.

The Chief Minister has brought in welfare schemes for the social and economic empowerment of women alongside the safety, security, leadership, and basic health schemes.

For the first of its kind by any state in the country, Andhra Pradesh had rolled out special initiatives like Disha Police Stations, special courts, reservations to women in nominated posts, nominated works, and market yards. Disha Bill was brought in for speedy trial in cases of crime against women, where 18 special police stations, 13 fast-track courts are being set up across the State.

To address malnutrition and anemia among pregnant and lactating mothers and children aged between 6-72 months, the State government has brought YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus and YSR Sampoorna Poshana schemes to provide supplementary nutrition through Anganwadi centers. About 30.16 lakh mothers and children are being benefited from the two schemes, where the State has been spending Rs 1,863 Crore per annum, at an expenditure of Rs 1,100 per beneficiary every month. While YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus is intended to supply nutritious food exclusively in 77 tribal areas covering 8,320 Anganwadi Centres, the remaining urban and rural areas will be covered under YSR Sampoorna Poshana.

Besides these, the State government also brought many schemes focussing on the financial empowerment of women, like YSR Cheyutha, Kapu Nestam, and Aasara schemes. The schemes are provided to benefit women between 45-60 years belonging to the weaker sections and minorities through entrepreneurship in dairy, grocery, and other chosen fields with an annual incentive of Rs 18,750 for a period of four years. Women of Kapu, Ontari, and Balija communities of 45-60 age group are given Rs 15,000 per annum under YSR Kapu Nestham. Also, the State government will be providing financial assistance of Rs 15,000 per annum to women of Economically Backward Class (EBC) who are aged between 45-60 years from 2021-22.

Between June 2019- February 2021, the government had spent Rs 4604.13 Crore towards 24,55,534 beneficiaries of the YSR Cheyutha scheme. Similarly, Rs 6792.21 Crore was spent on 87,74,674 beneficiaries of the YSR Aasara scheme waiving off the first tranche of SHG loans and Rs 491.79 Crore on 3,27,862 beneficiaries under the Kapu Nestam scheme.

In order to provide business opportunities for the women, for a stable income, and a safe investment, the State government had signed MoUs with giant companies like AMUL, Proctor and Gamble, ITC, Allana Group, Reliance, among others in addition to providing zero-interest loans. So far, since June 2019, the government has spent Rs 904.33 Crore by benefiting 51,84,388 women under the Vaddi Leni Runalu scheme.

Apart from these, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had brought in Amma Vodi, which not only addresses the school dropout rate but also resolves the problem of child labour and checking the low literacy rate parallel to lowering the burden on parents in providing quality education to their children. Towards this scheme, the government had spent Rs 13022.93 Crore benefiting 44,48,865 beneficiaries in 2020 and 2021.

For empowering women in rural areas of the State, the government launched the Jagananna Jeeva Kranti scheme to distribute over 2.49 lakh sheep and goats units and 4.69 lakh units of cows and buffaloes in a phased manner with a cost of Rs 5400 Crore.