60% participation of women from UP in IITF proved that the schemes of Yogi government are making women economically-socially stronger. Through Mission Shakti, ODOP, Mudra Loans and SHGs, lakhs of women became entrepreneurs and reached the global platform.
Lucknow. The all-inclusive policies of the Yogi government towards making Uttar Pradesh “Uttam Pradesh” are now showing their impact at the national and international level. Clear evidence of this was seen in the International Trade Fair (IITF), where there was a record participation of women from Uttar Pradesh. Government schemes—Mission Shakti, Mudra Loan, Kanya Sumangala, Self Help Groups and ODOP have made women self-reliant and opened the doors to the global platform for them. For this reason, 60% of the participants in the ODOP pavilion of IITF this year were women, who attracted buyers from India and abroad with their traditional arts and handicrafts.
Yogi government’s policies are changing women’s lives
Mission Shakti has been implemented on a large scale to empower women economically. Under this, 15.35 lakh women have got self-employment by linking them with various schemes. More than 1.14 crore accounts were approved under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana during 2022-23, of which 80% of the beneficiaries were women.
Through Kanya Sumangala Yojana, more than 15 lakh girls were given education and health support, bringing them into the mainstream of development. These efforts have also had an impact on the labor participation rate of women, which has increased from 10.6% in 2017 to more than 17.5% in 2023. Yogi government’s schemes have made women self-reliant as well as provided social security and economic stability.
ODOP scheme made women big scale entrepreneurs
ODOP (One District One Product) scheme has become the biggest force for economic transformation of women. Thousands of artisans, weavers and women entrepreneurs have been empowered by this scheme. Women working in traditional arts like chikankari, zari-zardozi, brass industry, Banarasi silk, terracotta, wooden toys have got huge benefits. So far, more than 60,000 women artisans have been provided free training and modern toolkits, which has drastically improved both their production capacity and quality.
Thousands of women MSME entrepreneurs have been onboarded on e-commerce platforms – Amazon, Flipkart among others, giving them access to the international market and increasing their income. The presence of 60% women in the ODOP pavilion at IITF proved that the traditional art of Uttar Pradesh is rapidly gaining recognition in the world market.
The basis of women’s economic empowerment is being formed due to the continuous efforts of the government.
Yogi government has given a new path to self-reliance to women through self-help groups (SHG). Loans worth more than Rs 1,000 crore given to more than 4.5 lakh self-help groups in 2022-23 under the National Rural Livelihood Mission. This was directly reflected at IITF, where women entrepreneurs showcased their products on a large scale and caught the attention of global buyers.
Examples like Jhansi’s Vandana and Shivani Sharma show that the Yogi government’s policies helped transform home-based work into organized industry. With the training and financial support of ODOP, their toy art got national and international markets, which increased their income significantly. This shows that government policies have given new life to traditional arts and new flight to women.