‘Don’t cry on the birth of a daughter, you will get ₹ 25,000’. Know how this scheme of Yogi government changed the fate of UP.

Lucknow: Big claims have always been made regarding the politics and law and order of Uttar Pradesh, but this time the figures that have come out have shocked everyone. Since the formation of Narendra Modi government at the Center in 2014 and then Yogi Adityanath taking command of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, a new wind of development and security is blowing in the state. If anyone has got the most direct and spectacular benefit of this big change, it is the ‘women power’ of the state. The joint efforts of the Central and State governments together have written a new history in terms of safety, respect, health and employment of the women of UP, which is now being discussed everywhere.

Today, an environment of security, respect and progress has been created for women in Uttar Pradesh which was never seen before. Big and effective schemes like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Mission Shakti, Women Self Help Group, Lakhpati Didi and Chief Minister Kanya Sumangala Yojana have not only given a high position to the women of UP in the society, but have also given them an excellent opportunity to stand on their own feet and become economically strong.

Women’s safety becomes priority: Women police directly increased from 10 thousand to 44 thousand

As soon as Yogi Adityanath took over as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he had made it clear that there would be no compromise on women’s safety in the state. He believed that unless sisters and daughters feel safe, the avenues of education, job or business will always be closed for them. This was the reason that as soon as the government was formed, ‘Anti Romeo Squad’ was first deployed to deal with the miscreants. Along with this, women’s helpline number 1090 was made more hi-tech and stronger, separate women’s help desks were started in police stations and a new wave of awareness was created in the entire state by running ‘Mission Shakti’ campaign.

To make women’s security a more impenetrable fortress, the Yogi government has given a huge reservation of 20 percent to women in police recruitment. The result of this was that till the year 2017, the number of women policemen in UP Police was only around 10 thousand, today it has increased at a record breaking pace to beyond 44 thousand. Due to this historic increase in the women police force, now the complaints of women coming to the police stations are being resolved immediately. Today, due to ‘Women Beat Policing’, ‘Pink Patrolling’ and sensitive help desks in almost every district of the state, a great confidence of safety has been created among the women.

Lung disease stopped due to Ujjwala scheme, 1.86 crore families got relief

‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana’ is considered to be one of the most revolutionary and game-changing schemes for women empowerment in the country. You will be surprised to know that Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the largest and first beneficiary state of this scheme in the entire country. Under this scheme, completely free gas connections have been distributed to about 1.86 crore poor families of UP. This one scheme has forever freed the women living in villages from serious eye and lung diseases caused by the deadly smoke of stoves.

The women who earlier used to collect wood, cow dung cakes and coal from the forest and cook food in the harsh sun and cold, their health is now completely safe. Ujjwala Yojana has not only protected their health but also saved a lot of their precious time and hard work. Today, lakhs of rural women are cooking food quickly on gas stove and using the remaining time in other employment and economic work, which has brought about a big improvement in their standard of living.

Kanya Sumangala Yojana: Now there is no burden on the birth of a daughter, the government gives ₹ 25,000

To change the old and conservative thinking of the society regarding the birth of daughters, the Yogi government had started ‘Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana’. Through this very popular scheme, the government provides financial assistance to daughters from the time they are born to bear the expenses of their entire education. Till now, more than 27.37 lakh daughters of UP have got the direct benefit of this scheme. Under this scheme, a total financial assistance of ₹ 25,000 is sent directly to the bank account in different installments and phases. The real objective of the government is to root out the terrible social evil like female feticide and to secure the future of daughters by promoting higher education. This scheme is now teaching the society that the daughter is not a burden, but the biggest strength of the family.

Confidence of 1 crore women increased, self-help groups changed their fortunes.

Standing on one’s own feet financially is the real empowerment and in this matter the women of Uttar Pradesh have set a great example in front of the country. Today, about 1 crore women in Uttar Pradesh have been directly linked to ‘Women Self Help Groups’ (SHGs). These small groups formed under the National Rural Livelihood Mission directly connected the ordinary women of the villages to the banking system, provided them loans at very easy installments and gave them the opportunity to start their own business.

Today, instead of lending their hands to anyone, lakhs of women in the villages of UP are earning bumper income every month through small industries like dairy industry, agricultural processing, food products like pickles-papad, beautiful handicrafts and sewing-embroidery. These groups have instilled amazing leadership quality and self-confidence among the rural women. Now village women are not limited to just cooking, but are also playing a key role in major economic decisions of their homes.

By becoming ‘Lakhpati Didi’, women are no longer demanding jobs but are giving jobs.

The ‘Lakhpati Didi’ campaign, which started from the idea of ​​Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been implemented by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath like a mission, which has achieved great success in the state. The direct aim of this scheme is to increase the annual income of every woman associated with self-help groups to at least ₹ 1 lakh or above.

Taking this campaign in mission mode, Yogi government has provided excellent skill development training, business teaching skills, marketing support and strong financial assistance to women. The most pleasant result of this is that till now a total of 18.55 lakh women in Uttar Pradesh have achieved the title of ‘Lakhpati Didi’. Now these women are not the ones who seek help from others, but have become a big force in providing jobs to other people of the society through their small industries.

NCRB data revealed: Half the crimes committed under Akhilesh Raj

Before the year 2017, there was an atmosphere of great fear and concern all the time regarding the safety of women in Uttar Pradesh. The news of girls being openly molested and insecure in markets and intersections made headlines in newspapers every day. But as soon as the Yogi government came to power, when the law and order system was tightened, criminals became so afraid that there was a huge decline in the cases of serious crimes against women like kidnapping, domestic violence, murder and rape.

If we look at the official figures of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the country’s most reliable institution, crimes have reduced significantly under Yogi Raj as compared to the Samajwadi Party (SP) government. In the year 2016, during the time of SP government, the crime rate per lakh women in cases of dowry harassment and murder in Uttar Pradesh was 2.4, which has come down to just 1.8 as per the latest data of 2024 of the Yogi government.

Similarly, cases of kidnapping of women which were 13,014 recorded in 2016 during Akhilesh Yadav’s rule have now dropped drastically to just 7,919 in 2024. If we look at the most sensitive data i.e. rape, in the year 2016 this rate was 4.6, which has now come down to just 2.8 under the strict rule of Yogi Adityanath.

While in the earlier governments, women’s welfare schemes were limited only to papers and government files, today in Yogi Adityanath’s system, along with security, women’s pockets, their health and their education are also being given equal rights. This is the reason that today the women power of Uttar Pradesh has not only become the beneficiary of the government schemes, but is also standing at the forefront and leading the development journey of making the entire Uttar Pradesh a great state.