Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme (PMMSK)

Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme (PMMSK) for Women Empowerment 

In extension to the umbrella scheme Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women, the cabinet ministry has launched a new scheme namely Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme. It is initiated in support of women empowerment in rural India. Along with this scheme the central government has planned to expand all other schemes for women empowerment in recent future. The central government has already allocated budget for the next two financial years for this scheme.

Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme

Launch Details

On Wednesday dated 22nd Nov 2017, PM-Modi led cabinet ministry has given a nod to Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme. Under this scheme women from the rural areas of backward districts will be focussed on. Along with this scheme the cabinet also stated that Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, one stop centre scheme for the sexually harassed women and 7 more schemes will be extended in future.

Key Features

  • Objective: The main purpose of this scheme is to enhance women’s quality of life. Starting from saving and surviving of girl child, their primary as well as secondary education and overall quality of life will be improved through the implementation of this scheme.
  • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme gets extension: Along with this scheme Beti Bachao Beti Padhao will also be extended. Cabinet said that currently BBBP scheme is operating in 161 districts and soon it will reach to 640 districts in India.
  • One Stop Centre: The cabinet ministry has confirmed that nearly 150 One Stop Centres for women will be established in various districts. These centres will be beneficial for the survival of sexually harassed cases. They will be provided medical, psychological, legal and police protection under these centres.
  • Helpline: There will be round-the-clock helpline in 36 states and UTs for the women. They can ask for help at anytime by dialling the helpline numbers.
  • Volunteer: The government has targeted students to volunteer in this scheme. There will be more than 3 Lac students who are said to volunteer in this scheme and will help it to implement in grass root level.
  • Mahila Police Volunteer Scheme: Apart from these schemes Mahila Police Volunteer Scheme will also be extended. Currently in India, only 10 districts from 5 states have this scheme implemented. After getting an extension 65 districts will be covered.

Mahila Shakti Kendra Details

  • Mahila Shakti Kendra Background: During budget speech in 2017, Finance Minister Shree Arun Jaitley has stated that Mahila Shakti Kendra will be setting up at Anganwadi centres. Nearly 14 Lac Anganwadi centres are there in India. On Wednesday the cabinet has given nod to MSK.
  • MSK centres: The union cabinet ministry has said that around 920 Mahila Shakti Kendra or centres will be established in 115 districts that are backward. The centres will be setting up at block-level.
  • Volunteers: As mentioned 3 Lac students will be volunteered in this scheme. They all will be from colleges. Along with them NSS and NCC students will also be associated with this scheme.
  • Phases: The scheme will be implemented in different phases. As of now no news regarding phases have come out from the authority. It will soon be published.
  • Implementation: The scheme will be implemented at district, state and national level. A common task force will be formed under the scheme to plan, review and monitor the progress of the schemes. Also it has been said that Niti Aayog will be engaged in this scheme for the digital monitoring.
  • District level Agencies: There will be district and state level agencies that will be responsible to implement the schemes at grass root level.

Budget

The budget allocated for the scheme was Rs. 500 Cr as per the Finance Minister in his budget speech. This budget was recorded for the Mahila Shakti Kendra establishments in 14 Lac Anganwadi centres. For the other schemes and their extensions the central government has allocated Rs. 3, 636.85 Cr.

This budget is allocated for the next two years that is Financial Year 2018-19 and 2019-20. In this mentioned budget the central government will contribute Rs. 3, 084.96 Cr. The rest amount will be carried by the respective state government in India.

The amount will be sanctioned in parts as the scheme will be implemented in phased manner in different states and union territories. Apart from this budget the FM also allocated Rs. 648 Cr to the integrated child development scheme in the last budget announced in 2017.

Mission for Protection and Empowerment of Women is called an umbrella scheme as it holds many sub-schemes under one super scheme. All these sub-schemes including the Nirbhaya Fund will be implemented in grass root level with much bigger network. All these schemes will be beneficial for women in the country. The government expects to improve the child sex ratio and survival of girl child currently through these schemes as the rate is still quite low.

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