New Delhi: If you are a parent thinking
of getting your daughter married, you may have to pay a hefty
insurance premium as the government contemplates insuring all
girls before the wedding to meet exigencies like widowhood and
domestic violence.
Though not clear about how the plan would be shaped,
Minister for Woman and Child Development Krishna Tirath said
at a press conference here today that she was in talks with
various insurance companies on the matter and the government
on its part might also contribute some amount.
"This would be like the `Ladli` and other schemes for
the welfare of women. It would be applicable to only married
women and open to anybody who wants to join," Tirath said.
The ministry was also in talks with experts on the
subject, she said.
Asked if such a scheme would not be another form of
dowry, the minister replied in the negative, saying that dowry
was paid on demand and this would be voluntary.
Tirath who was enumerating the work being done in her
ministry on the first 100 days of the UPA taking over said,
the government would set up a National Mission for Empowerment
of Women which would henceforth be the single window clearance
point for all schemes related to development of women.
The recommendation for setting up such a mission was
made by a Committee of Governors headed by Haryana Governor
A R Kidwai, which had been set up by President Pratibha Patil.
The mission would ensure convergence of various
schemes and programmes for the development and welfare of
women.
Listing the progress made in the first 100 days, she
said the amount in the Rashtriya Mahila Kosh had been enhanced
from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore, more than 25,000 new
Anganwadi centres have been sanctioned and Rs 1,820 crore
released for supplementary nutrition.
The government is also working on a mechanism for
effective monitoring of Anganwadis for desired improvement in
the delivery of the services.
Tirath said the ministry was also working on setting
up a children`s fund to assist children who have been affected
by disasters like tsunami or terror bomb blasts.
"We are also working towards bringing out a
behavioural change in men through teachings at the Anganwadi
centres and the primary schools," she said.
The ministry has also evolved a new scheme for `Sabla`
for adolescent girls in the age group of 11-18 years to
improve their health and nutrition status and empower them.
The Planning Commission has earmarked Rs 4,500 crore for this
scheme.
A scheme for conditional maternity benefit, aiming to
provide cash transfer to pregnant and lactating mothers for
promoting their nutritional and health status is also being
formulated, she said.
The minister said she had spoken with Railways
Minister Mamta Banerjee on evolving a strategy to check
trafficking of women using the railway network.
Bureau Report
