Mahila Shakti Kendra will be set-up at village level

Allocation for the welfare for Women and Children has been increased from ₹ 1,56,528 Crores to ₹ 1,84,632 Crores

The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley while presenting the General Budget 2017-18 in Parliament today said that Mahila Shakti Kendra will be set-up at village level with an allocation of ₹ 500 crores in 14 lakh ICDS Anganwadi Centres. This will provide one stop convergent support services for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition. Under nationwide scheme for financial assistance to pregnant women ₹ 6,000 each will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of pregnant women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children.

For the welfare of Women and Children under various schemes across all the Ministries the allocation has been stepped-up from ₹ 1,56,528 crores in BE 2016-17 to ₹ 1,84,632 crores in 2017-18.

Maternal cash transfer scheme: direct bank transfers for institutional delivery and child vaccination enhance maternal welfare. Establishment of Mahila Shakti Kendras within Anganwadi Centres to deliver one stop empowerment services for rural women, and a conditional maternal cash assistance mechanism providing direct bank transfers to women who undergo institutional delivery and vaccinate their children; overall budgetary allocations for women and children's welfare are increased.