Sitharaman: Modi government boosts women’s empowerment

New Delhi

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday highlighted the progress women have made over the last eleven years, thanks to various schemes launched by the Modi government to strengthen Nari Shakti across India.

Celebrating 11 Years of Sashakt Nari, she pointed out that over 55% of account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the world’s largest financial inclusion program, are women. This marks a big step toward empowering women at the grassroots level.

Sitharaman also said 68% of MUDRA loan beneficiaries are women, helping many start small businesses and become self-reliant. Under the Start-Up India scheme, 74% of entrepreneurs are women, showing their growing role in innovation and entrepreneurship. Additionally, 73% of houses built through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) are owned by women, supporting their security and dignity.

She praised the Ujjwala Yojana, which has provided 10 crore LPG connections to women from poor families, reducing indoor pollution and easing their cooking burden.

Sitharaman shared that since 2015, the average bank balance in Jan Dhan accounts has grown from Rs 1,065 to Rs 4,352, with about 80% accounts still active. Around 66.6% of these accounts are in rural and semi-urban areas, and women hold 55.7% of all accounts, showing strong financial inclusion.

She concluded by saying that the Modi government’s goal from 2014 was to bring banking services to every Indian, no matter how remote, and the Jan Dhan Yojana has been key in making this vision a reality.