**Executive Summary**
The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing several schemes to strengthen interventions for women's safety, security, and empowerment. These schemes, falling under verticals like Mission Shakti, Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0, and Mission Vatsalya, aim to address various needs including financial assistance, health, safety, and accommodation for women. Details are provided on various schemes and relevant changes to PAN card and passport rules.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Mission Shakti:** Aims to strengthen interventions for women's safety, security, and empowerment via two sub-schemes:
* **Sambal:** Focuses on safety and security, featuring One Stop Centres (OSCs) and the Women Helpline (WHL) 181.
* **Samarthya:** Focuses on empowerment, including Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) offering cash incentives for pregnant and lactating mothers and Shakti Sadan offering Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation for women.
* **Sakhi Niwas:** Promotes the availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women.
* **Mission Poshan 2.0:** Reorganized into 3 verticals: Promotion of nutritional health and well-being, Early Childhood Care and Education, and Anganwadi Infrastructure.
* **Ayushman Bharat:** Providing free of cost treatment through medical packages with over 141 packages designed for women.
* **Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs):** Ministry of Home Affairs implements a project named 'Setting up and strengthening of Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs)', under Nirbhaya fund.
* **PAN Card Rules:** Amended to allow single mothers to only provide their name on the PAN card application.
* **Passport Rules:** Amended to allow either the mother's or father's name to be provided on the passport application, without marriage/divorce certificate.
* **Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY):** Provides deposit-free LPG connections to women from poor households.
* **Public Procurement Policy:** Mandates 3% of annual procurement from women-owned Micro and Small Enterprises.
* **MSME Initiatives:**
* “Skill Upgradation and Mahila Coir Yojana” for skill development of women artisans.
* PM Vishwakarma Scheme provides benefits to traditional artisans including women.
* Enhanced provisions under the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises.
* Launched “Yashasvini” to create awareness about MSME schemes.
* **Other Schemes:** MUDRA Yojna, Stand-Up India, Start-up India, Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) etc. provide employment opportunities and credit facilities.
**Impact Analysis**
**Women in Distress / Victims of Trafficking and Exploitation:**
* **Impact:** Easier access to police assistance, safe accommodation, and rehabilitation services.
* **Action Required:** Utilize available resources such as Women Help Desks (WHDs), Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112), and the dedicated Women Helpline (WHL-181) and AHTUs.
**Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers:**
* **Impact:** Access to financial assistance (PMMVY), improved healthcare, and nutritional support.
* **Action Required:** Apply for benefits under PMMVY, PMMVY, and other relevant schemes.
**Working Women:**
* **Impact:** Access to safe and convenient accommodation (Sakhi Niwas), day-care facilities (Palna), and employment/self-employment opportunities.
* **Action Required:** Utilize available accommodation facilities, apply for relevant MSME schemes, and explore employment opportunities.
**Single Mothers:**
* **Impact:** Simplified PAN card and passport application processes.
* **Action Required:** Update PAN and passport information as needed.
**Women Entrepreneurs:**
* **Impact:** Enhanced access to credit, skill development programs, and procurement opportunities.
* **Action Required:** Apply for relevant MSME schemes, participate in training programs, and explore government procurement opportunities.
Key Entities Referenced
Mission Shakti: An umbrella scheme for the safety, security, and empowerment of women.
Ministry of Women and Child Development: The central ministry responsible for the implementation of schemes and policies for the welfare of women and children.
Ayushman Bharat: A health scheme, under which 141 medical packages are designed exclusively for addressing medical needs of women.
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): A scheme under 'Samarthya' vertical to provide cash incentive to pregnant women and lactating mothers.
One Stop Centres (OSCs): Institution at district level offering immediate help to women.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
‘Mission Shakti’ aims at strengthening
interventions for women safety, security and
empowerment
SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women serves as a
vehicle to bridge information and knowledge gap regarding
schemes and facilities available for women
Sakhi Niwas aims to promote availability of safe and
conveniently located accommodation for working women
Under Ayushman Bharat, over 141 medical packages are
exclusively designed for addressing medical needs of women
प्रव तथ: 17 DEC 2025 1:35PM by PIB Delhi
There are a number of schemes being implemented by various Ministries and Departments of the
Government of India for financial and social empowerment of women, including for widows, single
mothers and women in difficult circumstances.
Major schemes and programmes of Government of India in this regard are as follows: -
(i) The Ministry of Women and Child Development during the 15th Finance Commission period with
effect from the financial year 2022-23, is implementing Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the country for
the welfare of women and children, which are placed under three verticals, viz. (1) Mission Shakti, for
safety, protection and empowerment of women; (2) Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 for improving
nutrition & health indicators in the country; and (3) Mission Vatsalya, for protection and welfare of
vulnerable children in difficult circumstances. Details of the schemes are as under:
(a) Mission Shakti: The ‘Mission Shakti’ aims at strengthening interventions for women safety, security
and empowerment. It comprises of two sub-schemes ‘Sambal’ and ‘Samarthya’ for safety and security of
women and empowerment of women respectively. The “Sambal” vertical is for safety and security of
women and the key components namely, One Stop Centres (OSCs) which is an institution located at
district level offering under one roof immediate help to women such as temporary shelter, medical &
police assistance, counselling and legal support, the Women Helpline (WHL) 181 provides toll-free 24-
hours telecom service to women seeking support and information. The “Samarthya” vertical is for the
empowerment of women. It has the following components namely, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana
Yojana (PMMVY) under which cash incentive of ₹5,000/- is provided directly to the Bank/Post Office
account of the pregnant women and lactating mothers in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode for first
child. Cash incentive of ₹6,000/- is also provided under PMMVY to eligible beneficiaries for second
child, if it is a girl child. Shakti Sadan is an Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home for women indistress situations and difficult circumstances including trafficked women. Home for Widows named
‘Krishna Kutir’ set up in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh with a capacity to accommodate 1,000 residents to
provide a safe and secure place of stay, health services, nutritious food, legal and counselling services.
Sakhi Niwas (Working Women Hostel) that aims to promote availability of safe and conveniently located
accommodation for working women in urban, semi-urban and even rural areas where employment
opportunity for women exists. Palna is a component of day-care creche facilities that provide a safe and
secure place for the children. Creche services formalise the child-care facilities hitherto considered as part
of domestic work and use Anganwadi infrastructure for ensuring delivery of care facilities till the last
mile. The SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW) serves as a vehicle to bridge the
information and knowledge gap regarding schemes and facilities available for women.
(b) Under Mission Poshan 2.0, Anganwadi Services, POSHAN Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent
Girls has been reorganized into 3 primary verticals: (i) Promotion of nutritional health & well-being for
children below the age of 6 years, Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls (14 -18
years); (ii) Early Childhood Care and Education [3-6 years] and (iii) Anganwadi Infrastructure including
modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadi.
(ii) Ministry of Home Affairs implements a project named 'Setting up and strengthening of Anti
Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs)', under Nirbhaya fund. So far, 827 AHTUs are functional across the
country including 807 in States/ UTs and 15 in Border Guarding Forces (BSF) and 5 in Sashastra Seema
Bal (SSB). SSB has also established dedicated helpline number 1903. To ensure that the Police Stations
are more women friendly and approachable, as they would be the first and single point of contact for any
woman in distress including the women victims of trafficking and exploitation, walking into a police
station, 14,658 Women Help Desks (WHDs) have been set up under Nirbhaya Fund, of which 13,743 are
headed by women police officers. To provide help and support to needy women and women in distress,
Emergency Response Support System (ERSS-112) has been established in all 36 States and UTs for
various emergencies, with computer aided dispatch of field/police resources. In addition to ERSS, a
dedicated Women helpline (WHL-181) is operational across the country.
(iii) Under Ayushman Bharat, the Government is providing free of cost treatment through over 1200
medical packages to over 55 crore citizens. Out of these, over 141 medical packages are exclusively
designed for addressing medical needs of women. Seven types of screening (TB, Hypertension, Diabetes,
Oral Cancer, Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer and Cataract) are provided under the scheme, which have
benefitted crores of women. There are over 1,50,000 Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs), also
referred to as Ayushman Arogya Mandir, in both urban and rural areas, which bring health care closer to
the community. Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PMJAY) is the world’s
largest public funded health assurance scheme, with special focus on poor and disadvantaged women.
There are over 16,000 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJK) functional across the
country. National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri
Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) have been
implemented to provide social protection through insurance coverage and pension.
(iv) The PAN Card rules have been amended to provide that in cases where the mother is a single parent,
the applicant can choose to have only the mother's name on the PAN card by providing the necessary
details. Earlier, providing the father’s name in the PAN application forms was mandatory.
(v) Passport rules have been amended in favour of single mothers. Now either the mother’s or the
father’s name can be provided in the passport application form and there is no requirement to provide the
certificate of marriage/ divorce during application. Earlier, providing the father’s name in the Passport
application forms was mandatory.(vi) Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) Scheme under which deposit-free LPG connections to
adult women from poor households, including widows, single mothers and women from marginalized
sections, are provided. The scheme aims to provide clean cooking fuel to poor households, reduce health
risks caused by traditional fuels such as firewood and cow dung, lessen indoor air pollution, ease the
drudgery of women, and help prevent deforestation.
(vii) The Government of India, through the Public Procurement Policy, has mandated that all Central
Ministries/ Departments/ Public Sector Enterprises procure at least 3% of their annual procurement from
women-owned Micro and Small Enterprises.
(viii) Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Entreprises (MSME) implements “Skill Upgradation and
Mahila Coir Yojana” is an exclusive training programme aimed at skill development of women artisans
engaged in Coir Sector under Coir Vikas Yojana. PM Vishwakarma Scheme under MSME provide
number of benefits to the traditional artisans and craftspeople including women, engaged in 18 trades.
MSME under Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises have introduced enhanced
provisions for micro and small women entrepreneurs with effect from 01.12.2022, including guarantee
coverage of up to 90 per cent as against 75 per cent for others, and a 10 per cent concession in annual
guarantee fees. MSME launched “Yashasvini” an awareness campaign to create awareness among
existing and aspiring women entrepreneurs with various scheme of the Ministry of MSME, providing
them with continuum of support through handholding, mentorship, and capacity building.
(ix) Schemes such as MUDRA Yojna, Stand-Up India, Start-up India, Pradhan Mantri Street Vendors
AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) etc. provide employment/
self-employment opportunities and credit facilities. Majority of the beneficiaries under these schemes are
women.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Smt. Savitri
Thakur in Rajya Sabha in reply to a question today
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SS
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