Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Locket Chatterjee hailed the Centre’s new scheme, Mahila Samman Saving Patra, saying it will promote women’s empowerment.
“As the income of the middle class is increasing this is a huge relaxation. The introduction of the cards for women (which will help them make savings) is a great effort towards women’s empowerment,” she said.
On February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced ‘Mahila Samman bachat Patra’ for women with a fixed interest rate of 7.5 per cent, for two years.
“For commemorating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a one-time new small saving scheme, Mahila Samman Savings Patra or savings certificate will be made available for a two-year period up to March 2025,” FM Sitharaman said.
“This will allow a deposit facility of up to ₹2 lakh in the name of a woman or girl for a tenure of two years at a fixed interest rate of 7.5 per cent with a partial withdrawal option,” she said.
Commenting on Opposition claims that this is an “election budget”, Chatterjee said, “Election is still very far and there will be new surprises then too.”
Chatterjee added, “Budget is good, compact, it is a budget for middle-class families, for the poor and also promotes women empowerment. The new budget gives a huge relief to the middle class as the income tax slab has been increased from ₹5 lakh to ₹7 lakh this year.”
In her budget speech, Sitharaman said, “Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihood Mission has achieved remarkable success by mobilizing rural women into 81 lakh Self Help Groups.”
“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 and managed professionally,” FM said.
“They will be helped with the supply of raw materials and for better design, quality, branding and marketing of their products. Through supporting policies, they will be enabled to scale up their operations to serve the large consumer markets, as has been the case with several start-ups growing into ‘Unicorns’,” he said.