Women Empowerment and Child Development Minister Rekha Arya presented Uttarakhand’s blueprint to the central government on the role of half the country’s population in making India a developed nation by 2047. She suggested increasing the female workforce to 50 percent, similar to European models, and operating Anganwadi centers as day boarding schools.
Cabinet Minister Rekha Arya joined the meeting chaired by Union Minister Annapurna Devi virtually from the HRDC auditorium in the Secretariat on Friday. She said that pregnant women’s care and the nutrition and education of children up to the age of six should not be taken lightly, and regular research and social audits should be conducted in this area. Ten percent of the budget allocated to local bodies should be reserved for women and child development. For women’s empowerment, there is a need to develop a technically skilled workforce and include technical skills in the qualifications of employees.
Minister Rekha Arya called for expanding the Kishori Balika Yojana to all districts and placing a special focus on skill development. She demanded the development of a system for grading Anganwadi centers. In the meeting, Union Minister Annapurna Devi appreciated Uttarakhand’s suggestions and assured them of implementation.
Uttarakhand proposed these proposals:
In the meeting, the Cabinet Minister proposed revising the standard infant nutrition rate, increasing the budget for Anganwadi center repairs from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 10,000, allocating 80 percent of the budget for Anganwadi center construction under MNREGA for materials and 20 percent for workers, and incorporating OTPs along with a face-reading system in the Take Home Ration Scheme.
In addition, the proposals included making the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana portal user-friendly and simple, providing vocational training to girls and scholarships for competitive exam preparation under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, providing at least two vehicles to provide immediate assistance to women through One Stop Centers, extending benefits under the sponsorship scheme to a limited number of eligible candidates, and annual increases in the honorarium of employees deployed under the scheme
