Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the programme launch of the 'Kanya Sumangala Yojana' which attended by over two lakh women.
Before the address, he transferred around Rs 1,000 crore in the bank accounts of Self Help Groups (SHGs), benefitting around 16 lakh women members of the SHGs.
"The state has worked for women empowerment. This scheme will benefit the daughters of state," PM Modi said.
"Most of the beneficiaries are those girls who didn't even have accounts until some time ago. But today they have the power of digital banking. Now daughters of UP have decided that they won't let the previous govts come back to power," PM Modi added.
He said that his government has taken several steps for benefitting women.
"We abolished the practice of triple talaq for Muslim sisters. We set up over 700 fast track courts for rape cases and we also removed the ban on women working in mining sector," he added.
PM Modi also announced the provision of 6 month maternity leaves for women so that they are able to nurse their newborns without the fears of losing their jobs.
On the decision to increase the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 years to 21 years, PM said, "Union Cabinet has taken a decision to increase the age of marriage of women from 18 years to 21 years. We're making efforts to make this happen as the women want that they should get time to pursue their studies, to get equal opportunities. But some are troubled by this decision."
Speaking about the PM Awas Yogna in Uttar Pradesh Modi said that 25 lakh out of the 30 lakh houses built under the scheme are registered in women's name.
"Over 30 lakh houses in UP have been built under PM Awas Yojana- about 25 lakh houses are registered in women's name. For generations, women did not have any property here but today they own the entire house. This is what true women empowerment is," PM Modi said.
Modi also said that before the BJP came to power in the state, there was "mafia raj" and "goonda raj" in the state. "Women bore the brunt of this and could not move about freely. Yogi Adityanath cracked down on such elements and today, women can move about freely and securely. UP now has safety and security and immense possibilities. It can no longer be pushed back," he said.
The Prime Minister, who transferred money to Self Help groups, bank sakhis and beneficiaries of Kanya Sumangala Yojana and also laid the foundation stone of 202 take home ration plants, said that these schemes were designed to empower women.
"I was talking to bank sakhis, SHG groups and beneficiaries of Kanya Sumangala Yojana earlier and saw great confidence in them. What is there in front of everyone, does not need to be proved. The change in their lives is visible and the nation can see it," he said.
The Prime Minister said that the bank sakhi programme has increased employment opportunities for women and brought banking to the doorstep. He informed that transactions worth Rs 75,000 crore were taking place through bank sakhis.
Talking about the take home ration plants, he said that this would ensure nourishment to women and also benefit farmers since the food grains would be purchased from them for the plants.
The flow of development and women empowerment will not stop now, and this has bene shown by UP," he added.
The Prime Minister further said that self-help groups had made women 'atmanirbhar'.
The Prime Minister said that Prayagraj was a symbol of women power because Maa Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati were present here.
Earlier, the Prime Minister interacted with representatives from various groups and heard their problems and took feedback about the change in their lives.
BJP's women MPs from UP were also present on the occasion.
With IANS and ANI Inputs
