We’re working with all states to ensure women’s security: PM

Mumbai: Prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the safety and security of women is a top priority of the central government and it would help state governments in every way to prevent atrocities against women and eradicate the sinful mentality behind such incidents from society.
“I understand the pain and anguish of my sisters and daughters, irrespective of states,” he said in Jalgaon, at a programme to felicitate the beneficiaries of Lakhpati Didi Yojana, a central government scheme for financial empowerment of women’s self-help groups. He was accompanied by chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and other senior leaders of the ruling Mahayuti coalition.
Without referring to recent incidents of sexual violence in Kolkata and Badlapur, which led to widespread protests across the country, Modi advocated strict and timely punishment for the perpetrators of gender-based crimes and their accomplices. He also claimed the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita had resolved problems and delays in the registration of first information reports (FIR) in cases of sexual violence.
The Mahayuti government in Maharashtra had drawn a lot of flak over the huge delay in registration of the FIR in the recent case of sexual assault on two four-year-old girls in Badlapur.
“Governments may change, but our biggest responsibility as a society and as a government should be to protect the life and dignity of women,” Modi said, adding that authorities in public institutions like hospitals, schools, office and the police should be made accountable and any sort of negligence on their part was unacceptable. The prime minister said the state’s future lies in more and more investments and new job opportunities, which can only be guaranteed by a stable Mahayuti government.
During his speech, Modi paid tribute to residents of Jalgaon who lost their lives in a bus accident in Nepal while on a pilgrimage on Friday.
“Soon after the accident, we informed authorities on Nepalese side and sent union minister of state Raksha Khadse to Nepal.” The mortal remains of the deceased had been brought to India by the Air Force and those injured were being looked after, he told the audience, praying for their speedy recovery.
Earlier in the day, Modi felicitated over 1 million new Lakhpati Didis, or members of women’s self-help group members whose annual family income had exceeded ₹1 lakh during the third term of the Modi government, spanning just the two months. He interacted with a few beneficiaries and released a revolving fund of ₹2,500 crore, which would benefit around 4.8 million members of 430,000 SHGs enrolled in the scheme. He also disbursed bank loans worth ₹5,000 crore which would benefit 2.5 million members of 235,000 SHGs.
Modi spoke about reforms undertaken in the banking sector and pointed out that even in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, most bank accounts were opened in the name of women. About 70% of the beneficiaries of Pradhan Manti Mudra Yojana were mothers and sisters of the nation, he said.
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that the target for the country was to create 30 million Lakhpati Didis and Maharashtra must account for at least 5 million of them. His counterpart Fadnavis mentioned that nearly 7.5 million women were associated with small savings groups in the state and very soon, their number would touch 20 million. “We can become Viksit Bharat when women come in the mainstream,” he said.