Parliament Question: Women’s safety and health awareness

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3839 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026 WOMEN'S SAFETY AND HEALTH AWARENESS 3839. SHRI MADAN RATHORE: Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state: (a) the major schemes being implemented by the Central Government for the empowerment and safety of women; (b) the number of women beneficiaries in Rajasthan under these schemes during the last three years; (c) whether Government is formulating any plan to further expand programmes relating to women's safety and health awareness; and (d) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SAVITRI THAKUR) (a) to (d): The Government gives utmost priority to the safety, security and empowerment of women in the country. Government has adopted multi-pronged approach to address the needs of women on a life-cycle continuum basis for their educational, social, economic and political empowerment so that they become equal partners in fast paced and sustainable national development. This ‘Women led development’ is essential for realising the goal of a developed India, or ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047. The Ministry of Women and Child Development 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 children in difficult circumstances. The ‘Mission Shakti’ aims at strengthening interventions for women’s safety, security and empowerment. It seeks to focus on proposing strategies for improving convergence across Ministries/ Departments and at different levels of governance. Mission Shakti comprises of two sub-schemes ‘Sambal’ and ‘Samarthya’ for safety and security of women and empowerment of women respectively.The “Sambal” sub-scheme is for safety and security of women. It has the components of One Stop Centres (OSCs), Women Helpline (WHL), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) and Nari Adalat. • One Stop Centres (OSCs)- One Stop Centre (OSC) provides integrated and immediate support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence and those in distress, both in private and public spaces all across the country. It provides services like medical aid, legal aid and advice, temporary shelter, police assistance and psycho- social counselling to needy women. As on 20.03.2026, 926 OSCs are operational in the country which have assisted over 13.37 lakh women in the country. • Women Helpline (WHL)- Women Helpline (WHL-181) provides 24-hour toll-free telecommunication services to support women in both emergency and non-emergency situations. It offers assistance to women affected by violence and provides information about government schemes and services. Women Helpline is operational in 35 States/ Union Territories and also integrated with Emergency Response Support System ERSS-112. Till 28th February, 2026, WHLs have assisted over 99.09 lakh women in the country. • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)- Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme was launched on 22nd January 2015 to help address Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and related issues of empowerment of girls and women over a life cycle continuum. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme has transformed from policy initiative into national movement by mobilizing various stakeholders, including government agencies, media civil society and general public. The scheme is implemented in all the districts of the country. As per the latest reports of Health Management Information System (HMIS) of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), SRB has increased from 929 in 2014- 15 to 937 in 2024-25 in the State of Rajasthan. Further, Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of girls in the schools at secondary level has increased from 65.35 percent in (2014-15) to 81.2 percent in (2024-25) [UDISE-data, MoE] in the State. • Nari Adalat- Nari Adalat scheme provides a platform for alternative grievance redressal for women at the gram panchayat level. The Adalats are mandated to help women in distress at the panchayat level in resolving smaller issues relating to domestic violence, and other gender-based violence by negotiation, mediation, and reconciliation with mutual consent for accessible justice. Presently, Nari Adalat is being run on pilot basis in 50 Gram Panchayats in the State of Assam and UT of Jammu & Kashmir and 10 Gram Panchayats in the State of Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Mizoram. The State of Rajasthan has not submitted any proposal for operationalization of Nari Adalats in the State. The “Samarthya” sub scheme is for empowerment of women. It has the components of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Shakti Sadan, Sakhi Niwas, Palna and SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW). • Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)- The PMMVY is a Centrally Sponsored Maternity Benefit Scheme under which cash incentives of ₹5,000/- isprovided directly to the Bank/Post Office account of the beneficiary in Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode for first child. The eligible beneficiaries receive the remaining cash incentive, as per approved norms towards maternity benefit under Janani Suraksha Yojana after institutional delivery, so that on an average a woman gets ₹6,000/-. Cash incentive of ₹6,000/- is also provided under PMMVY to eligible beneficiaries for second child subject to the second child being a girl. Benefits amounting to Rs. 20,117 crores have been extended to approximately 4.28 crore women across the country through this scheme since inception of the scheme (01.01.2017) till 20.03.2026. • Shakti Sadan- Under the overarching ‘Mission Shakti’, erstwhile schemes of ‘Swadhar Greh’ for women in difficult circumstances and ‘Ujjawala Home’ for Prevention of Trafficking, have been merged w.e.f. 01.04.2022 and known as ‘Shakti Sadan Scheme’, which is an Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home-for women in distressful situations including trafficked women. It aims at creating a safe and enabling environment for the women in such difficult situations, to enable them to overcome the adverse circumstances. Presently, 419 Shakti Sadans are functional across the country and 06 Shakti Sadans are functional in the State of Rajasthan. • Sakhi Niwas- Sakhi Niwas Scheme (Working Women Hostel) under the overarching Mission Shakti, is a demand driven Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The scheme aims to promote availability of safe and conveniently located accommodation for working women in urban, semi-urban and also in rural areas where employment opportunity for women exists. Presently, 560 Sakhi Niwas are functional across the country and 15 Sakhi Niwas are functional in the State of Rajasthan. • Palna- Palna Scheme is implemented with the aim of expanding the outreach of crèches to ensure that women everywhere have the opportunity to work and do not drop out from workforce because of care responsibilities. Palna aims to provide day-care crèche facilities to the children (06 months – 06 years). As on 23.03.2026, 3130 AWCCs are operational across the country. However, the State of Rajasthan has not submitted any proposal for operationalization of AWCCs in the State. • SANKALP: Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW)- The SANKALP: HEW (Hub for Empowerment of Women) which functions as a Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) for all components of Mission Shakti. It serves as a single window system to bridge the information and knowledge gap regarding schemes and facilities available for women as well as guide them to avail the benefits and entitlements. SANKALP: HEW is being implemented in all States/UTs except the State of West Bengal. As on date, total 35 State SANKALP: HEWs and 742 District SANKALP: HEWs are functional including in the State of Rajasthan. The details of the number of women beneficiaries in Rajasthan under Mission Shakti during the last three years is at Annexure-I. Under the National Health Mission (NHM), the Government of India is providing the technical and financial support to all the States/UTs for the implementation of various maternal health interventions to improve the maternal health outcomes including the health awareness. The key amongst which are as under: • Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a demand promotion and conditional cash transfer scheme for promoting institutional delivery.• Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK) under which every pregnant woman and sick infant is entitled to free delivery, including caesarean section, in public health institutions along with provision of free transport, diagnostics, medicines, blood, other consumables & diet. • Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) provides pregnant women a fixed day, free of cost assured and quality antenatal check up by a Specialist/Medical Officer on the 9th day of every month. • Extended PMSMA (e-PMSMA) strategy was launched for individual tracking of high-risk pregnant women till a safe delivery. • Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) aims to provide assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting the public health facility to end all preventable maternal and newborn deaths. • Optimizing Postnatal Care aims to strengthen the quality of postnatal care by laying emphasis on detection of danger signs in mothers and incentivizing Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) for prompt detection, referral & treatment of such high-risk postpartum mothers. • Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND) is a monthly outreach activity at Anganwadi centers for provision of maternal and childcare including nutrition in convergence with the ICDS. • Outreach camps are provisioned to improve the reach of health care services, especially in tribal and hard-to-reach areas. This platform is used to increase awareness for Maternal and Child health services and community mobilization as well as to track high-risk pregnancies. • Mother and Child Protection (MCP) Card and Safe Motherhood Booklet are distributed to the pregnant women for educating them on diet, rest, danger signs of pregnancy, benefit schemes and institutional deliveries. • Regular IEC/BCC is also a part of all the schemes for greater demand generation. Health and nutrition education through mass and social media is also promoted to improve healthy practices and to generate demand for service uptake. *****Annexure-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN THE REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) OF THE RAJYA SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 3839 FOR ANSWER ON 25.03.2026 REGARDING "WOMEN'S SAFETY AND HEALTH AWARENESS" The number of women beneficiaries in Rajasthan under Mission Shakti during the last three years. Schemes FY 2022-23 FY 2023-24 FY 2024-25 OSC 5,870 6,591 8,092 WHL 8,079 9,670 9,976 PMMVY 4,05,991 1,86,182 9,16,684 Shakti Sadan 526 499 637 Sakhi Niwas 146 124 193 SANKALP: HEW 0 0 44 Mission Shakti 4,20,612 2,03,066 9,35,626 *****