70% borrowers under Mudra Yojana women: Shah

BJP President Amit Shah said on Saturday that 70 per cent of beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana are women and that the Narendra Modi government has taken several initiatives for their welfare.

Addressing a meeting of women who have been beneficiaries of central and state government schemes here, Shah said the government had constructed 4.5 crore toilets for poor households across the country so that women do not have to go out in the open.

He said the maternity leave had been increased to 26 weeks for women in the organised sector and Rs 6,000 was being provided to lactating mothers for their first born child.

"Under Mudra Yojana, loans from Rs 10,000 to Rs 10 lakh can be availed at low interest rates without having a guarantor. Seventy per cent loans have gone to women," he said.

He said the Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh has boosted development in rural areas and taken steps to improve security for women.

"The BJP governments at the Centre and in the state are of the firm belief that till the time women are not empowered, the country will not be empowered... Chhattisgarh will not be empowered," he said.

--IANS

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