Women are also important in the Bihar elections. This is the reason why Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had always paid great attention to those schemes that had to do with women. In this series, there is a new electoral offering of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar to the women of Bihar, which is Chief Minister Women Employment Scheme.
Prime minister Narendra Modi, as he introduced the scheme through the video conferencing, remarked:
At the time this in progress was being made I was contemplating how large and momentous a stride Nitish Ji government has made with regard to the sisters and daughters of Bihar. In case a sister or daughter works out or becomes self-employed, it provides her dreams a new dimension of wings and increases her dignity in society.
PM Modi also stated that he had earlier on this month gotten a chance to open the Jeevika Nidhi Credit Cooperative Association. In this case, the Chief Minister Women Employment Scheme will be associated with the strength of that system. Modi also told that 75 lakh women have already enrolled in the new scheme and [?]10,000 each has been deposited to their bank accounts. These 75 lakh women beneficiaries out of Bihar total 3.39 crore women voters.
Cash transfer schemes among women have been very useful in such states as Madhya Pradesh or Maharashtra, which has been greatly helpful to the BJP. Nitish Kumar has been already operating numerous programs benefiting women in Bihar but the Chief Minister Women Employment Scheme is a bit different.
Nevertheless, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav condemned the move saying:
In this arrangement, not even one rupee has been handed out by Modi Ji. The sum is provided all by state government. Further, they are telling that the scheme will be reviewed later on. Do not imagine that the folk of Bihar are idiots.
The Chief Minister Women Employment Scheme- Effectiveness?
Chief Minister Women Employment Scheme is not merely a financial support program to the women of Bihar. The program is essentially targeted with assisting women in business and not every woman can have automatic access to it. Women have to be linked to Jeevika in order to get benefits. The unlinked ones are required to apply to be part of membership first via the village organisation, and at that point, they will then be in a position to enjoy the scheme.
First, women are being given the first installment of [?]10, 000 but, subsequently, their work will be evaluated. Depending on the estimation, qualified women may get up to [?]2 lakh in financing after six months of commencing business.
As a community-based program, the scheme would also offer training based on the activities chosen by the women in addition to financial support. Until now, majority of women have made applications to commence animal rearing, grocery stores, cosmetics, handicrafts, or mini business.
