Safety and welfare of women in the country is of utmost priority to
the Government. The Government has been putting into place
mechanisms to provide safe environment for women
including widows, divorced and single women. On the legislation front, the ‘Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005’; Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961; Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986; and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 were enacted. Recently, the Criminal Law (Amendment), Act 2013 has been enacted making the punishment more stringent.
To address the problems faced by women, many welfare schemes for women are implemented by Government of India and State Governments. The details of major schemes implemented by Ministry of Women and Child Development for the welfare of women are as under:-
(i) Swadhar Homes and Short Stay Homes for relief and rehabilitation of women in difficult circumstances
(ii) Support for Training & Employment Programme (STEP), Skill Upgradation Training is provided to assetless and below poverty line women
(iii) Scheme for Working Women Hostel under which assistance is provided for the construction/expansion of hostel building or towards rent of the premises with the objective of providing safe accommodation to single working women who are unmarried, widowed, divorced or separated as well as the married women whose husband or immediate family does not reside in the same area.
Apart from these, the following other schemes are also being implemented:-
(i) Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme under which pension is provided to a widow in the age group of 40-64 years and living below poverty line.
(ii) Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme under which pension is provided to persons above sixty five years of age belonging to BPL including women;
(iii) NREGA, under which willing persons including women are entitled to 100 days guaranteed employment during a year;
(iv) Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is also administering an IntegratedProgramme for Older Persons which is being implemented since 1992 with the objective of improving the quality of life of senior citizens including women by providing basic amenities like shelter, food, medical care etc.
This was stated by Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
