State Government is committed towards the empowerment of women in the State

Chandigarh, Mar 8 – Haryana Women and Child Development Minister, Mr Kavita Jain said that thec Government is committed towards the empowerment of women in the State and has implemented various schemes and programmes to ensure their socio-economic development.
Mrs. Kavita Jain, who was speaking on the occasion of International Women’s Day during the ongoing Budget Session of Vidhan Sabha here today, said that it was a matter of pride that participation of women in all spheres, including local bodies, Panchayati Raj Institutions and politics, had increased considerably.
She said that 42 per cent woman candidates were elected in the elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies held during the tenure of the present State Government. Apart from this, Municipal Corporations of Rohtak, Karnal and Faridabad are being headed by woman Mayors. Similarly, woman sarpanches have been elected in 333 gram panchayats of the State. She said that it was the result of this political awareness that women were serving on the highest posts including President, Lok Sabha Speaker, Union Ministers, Chief Minister and Ministers in State Governments to Sarpanch of Gram Panchayats. Since the country attained Independence, about 12 women have so far become the Chief Ministers of different States. The active participation of women has brought a revolutionary change in the mindset of the society towards women, she added.
Mrs Jain said that the 21st century belongs to women and various steps were being taken for their upliftment and empowerment. To effectively deal with the menace of child marriage, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 has been implemented. As many as 240 complaints of child marriage have so far been disposed of. Apart from this, One Stop Centres have been set up in Karnal, Gurugram, Faridabad, Bhiwani, Hisar, Rewari and Narnaul where facilities such as medical aid, police assistance, psycho-social counselling, legal aid and case management, shelter facility for short stay with food and clothing are being provided to women affected by domestic violence, sexual abuse, trafficking, dowry and acid attack. She said that Haryana Kanya Kosh had also been set up for the development and upliftment of the girl child and women in the State.
While referring to the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ Programme launched by Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, from Panipat, Mrs. Jain said that it was a matter of pride that the sex ratio at birth in the State had reached 938 girls per 1,000 boys in February, 2017 as against 830 girls per 1,000 boys in 2011. She said that the Government of India had conferred the Nari Shakti Puraskar on Haryana for this achievement on March 8, 2016. Besides, the Central Government had honoured district Yamunanagar for outstanding performance in the field of girls’ education on the occasion of Rashtriya Balika Diwas on January 24, 2017, she added.