Gandhinagar: Stating that the role of women was crucial in shaping the future of Gujarat, finance minister Kanubhai Desai on Thursday announced a new scheme — Sakhi Sahas — to provide equipment assistance, loan guarantee, and capacity building for women. A budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crore was made for the new scheme.
The finance minister said that in addition to schemes like the ‘Namo Drone Didi Yojana’, ‘Lakhpati Didi Yojana’, ‘Namo Lakshmi Yojana’, and ‘Namo Saraswati Vigyan Sadhana Yojana’, the ‘Sakhi Sahas’ scheme will assist women to purchase equipment, apart from providing loan guarantee and capacity building.
The state govt also proposes to set up well-equipped working women hostels in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Gandhinagar. The state govt made a budgetary allocation of Rs 7,668 crore for the women and child development department for the year 2025-26.
Other allocations for women include Rs 3,015 crore under the Ganga Swaroopa Arthik Sahay Yojana; Rs 953 crore under the Poshan Sudha Yojana for pregnant and lactating mothers; and Rs 372 crore under the Mukhya Mantri Matrushakti Yojana for pregnant women.