Budget 2023-2024: What Is ‘Mahila Samman Saving Certificate'? Know About The Savings Scheme For Women

Image source: DD News

There is a long-held patriarchal belief that when it comes to domestic responsibilities, women must take the primary burden. This gets worse when there is societal pressure and a woman gets tied up in the invisible shackles which destroy their dream to be financially independent.

But, times have changed and women are breaking the mould and taking charge of their lives. Being financially independent can empower women in numerous ways. Not only it boosts their morale and help them to create a niche for themselves, but it also diminishes the dependency on a male member for their financial needs. With economic independence, a woman can also become a dependable role model and a helping hand in the family.

On 1 February, Wednesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made some big announcements while presenting the Union Budget 2023-2024, which was her fifth and last full budget under the Modi Government.

According to Article 112 of the Indian Constitution, the Union Budget of a year, also referred to as the annual financial statement, is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditures of the government for that particular year.

She began her speech by saying 'First Budget of Amrit Kaal' and mentioned a blueprint for India@100 that consists of seven main priorities.

Out of 24 big announcements, one significant proposal was made by Sitharaman for the welfare and empowerment of women or girl child, i.e., 'Mahila Samman Saving Patra Or Certificate'.

In 2022-2023, the budget that was allocated to the Women and Child Development Ministry stood at 25,172.28 crores and in 2023-2024, there is an increase of Rs 267 crore, which makes it 25,448.75 crores.

What Is Mahila Samman Saving Certificate?

Women comprise about half of the population of India and therefore, their welfare is crucial to the country's growth and development.

Mahila Samman Scheme is a new one-time saving scheme which has a deposit facility for women and girls for a period of 2 years with a rate of interest of 7.5 percent, mentioned Sitharaman in her speech. The minimum deposit has been kept at Rs 2 lakh and the scheme will also have a partial withdrawal facility as well.

To provide economic empowerment to women, 81 lakh self-help groups have been created by mobilising rural women under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihood Mission, she announced. 'We will enable these groups to reach the next stage of economic empowerment through the formation of large producer enterprises or collectives with each having several thousand members," she added.

Apart from that, three crore women farmers have been provided Rs 54,000 crore, and more than Rs 2.25 lakh crore has been provided to small farmers as financial assistance under the scheme PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, mentioned the finance minister.

The largest allocation for the Ministry has been for the Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 (Umbrella ICDS - Anganwadi Services, Poshan Abhiyan, Scheme for Adolescent Girls) of Rs 20,554.31 crore. Also, Mission VATSALYA (Child Protection Services and Child Welfare Services) has been allotted Rs 1,472 crore and allocation for Mission Shakti (Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women) is Rs 3,143 crore in 2023-24, a dip from Rs 3,184 crore in 2022-23.

For autonomous bodies (which include the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and National Commission for Women), the budget allocated is Rs 168 crore, which is a marginal increase from Rs 162 croe in the earlier budget in 2022-2023.