“Bahut hua naari pe waar, ab ki baar Modi sarkaar” was one of the theme on which Modi got elected to power.
During 2006-07, there was a scheme called “Kishori Shakti Yojana” which sought to empower adolescent girls, so as to enable them to take charge of their lives. The ultimate objective was to make a girl healthy physically and mentally, link them to opportunities for learning skills, motivate them to go back to school, help them understand their social environment and take initiatives to become productive.
The scheme was yielding results earlier, as per an RTI reply by the Modi government. In the year 2010-11, the central government spent Rs. 3,365 crore and covered 24.81 lakh girls by providing training for skill development. However, in 2014-15, in the first budget of Modi Government, the funds were drastically reduced to Rs. 1,489 crore, whereas the expenditure made on KSY by various state governments turned out to be Rs. 1,602 crore. Only around 15.18 lakh girls got the benefit. Before phasing out KSY, in the year 2017-18, government of India provided only Rs. 4,64 crore to provide skill development training to 6.28 lakh girls. But from April 1, 2018, the scheme has been discontinued.
In November 2017, Modi Government came up with a new scheme for women empowerment, named Mahila Shakti Kendra. The scheme aimed to cover 640 districts of the country through District Level Centre for Women (DLCW) till 2020. During the first Phase (2017-18), 220 districts were supposed to be covered and similarly, 220 more DLCW were proposed to be established in 2018-19. The remaining 200 districts were to be covered in 2019-20. According to the RTI reply, only 22 districts have so far made DLCW functional which includes 5 most Backward Districts of India. The RTI reply also confirmed that not a single state has reported about the functional status of the Mahila Shakti Kendras.
According to a report published by Hindustan Times on January 15, 2018, only 2% beneficiaries got aid under this maternity scheme even after one year of being implemented. The RTI reply revealed that till November 30, 2018, the government had distributed Rs. 1,656 crore among nearly 20 lakh eligible mothers, but ironically it has spent Rs.6,966 crore to distribute this amount. So, for doling out of every Rs.100, the government spent nearly 4.3 times as administrative expenses which is mind-blowing.
The scheme for setting up Family Counselling Centres was introduced by the Central Social Welfare Board in 1983 to provide counselling, referral and rehabilitative services to women and children who are victims of atrocities, family maladjustments and social ostracism, and also provide crisis intervention and trauma support in case of natural disasters. However, under the Modi government the scheme has suffered as well. The RTI response revealed shocking details. During the last five years, 219 FCCs have closed.