Women SHGs interest subvention programme to be expanded to all districts, says Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that the Women Self-help Groups (SHGs) interest subvention programme will be expanded to all districts.

"This government has supported and encouraged women entrepreneurship through various schemes such as Mudra scheme, Startup India and self-help group support. In order to further encourage women enterprises, I propose to expand the Women SHG interest subvention programme to all districts in India," she said while presenting the Union Budget for 2019-20 in Parliament.

Sitharaman said that the government has supported and encouraged women entrepreneurship through various schemes such as MUDRA, Stand up India and the SHG movement.

"Every verified SHG member, having a Jan Dhan bank account, and overdraft of Rs 5,000, will be allowed. One woman in every SHG will also be made eligible for a loan up to Rs. 1 lakh under the MUDRA Scheme," she said.

Sitharaman also proposed to form a broad-based Committee with the government and private stakeholders to evaluate and suggest action for moving forward.

"Gender analysis of the budget aimed at examining the budgetary allocation through a gender lens has been in place for over a decade," she said.

The Finance Minister said that India can make progress with greater women's participation in its growth story.