Swayamsiddha

Swayamsiddha is one such scheme for empowering the Indian women both socially and economically to enable them live with dignity and self-reliance. The scheme lays stress on access to micro-credit and envisages block and panchayat-level participation among women, cutting across all regional, economic and social groups.The programme aims at involving women in local-level planning and envisages the convergence of services of the Department of Women and Child Development and other departments. The programme will be extended over a period of four to five years at a cost of Rs 116.30 crore. To ensure a smooth functioning of the programme, a project implementation cell will be set up having adequate expertise and flexibility.

The scheme merges the Mahila Samriddhi Yojana (MSY) and the Indira Mahila Yojana (IMY). The State Governments will identify nodal departments for identifying block-level implementing agencies.Women need not run from pillar to post in search of information and aid as the scheme will ensure easy and instant redressal of problems. A subsidy-free approach to women’s empowerment will be inculcated.Community-orientation, innovative interventions and creation of community assets will all form a vital part of the activities of the PIAs or the SHGs. These will in turn strengthen the process of group formation, mobilisation and stabilisation.

The Central government has decided to establish policies, programmes and systems to ensure the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in the process of development. herever there are gaps in policies and programmes, women- specific interventions will be undertaken to bridge these. Coordinating and monitoring mechanisms will also be devised to assess the progress of such mainstreaming mechanisms from time to time. The self-help groups will particularly reach out to destitute women, particularly those in extreme poverty, disadvantaged women, disabled widows, elderly women, single women in difficult circumstances and women in conflict situations.