New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman stated on Tuesday that the empowerment of women through entrepreneurship and ease of living has gained momentum in the last ten years. Speaking while presenting the interim budget, she said that female enrollment in higher education also went up by 28 per cent in the said period, PTI reported.
Presenting the interim Budget 2024-25, she said 30 crore Mudra Yojana loans have been given to women entrepreneurs.
"Female enrolment in higher education has gone up by 28 per cent in 10 years. In STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) courses, girls and women constitute 43 per cent of enrolment - one of the highest in the world," the minister said.
The "empowerment of women through entrepreneurship, ease of living, and dignity for them has gained momentum in these ten years", the minister said, adding that all these measures are reflected in the increasing participation of women in the workforce.
"Making triple talaq illegal, reservation of one-third seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, and giving over 70 per cent houses under the PM Awas Yojana in rural areas to women as sole or joint owners have enhanced their dignity," she added.
The Opposition called the interim budget that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented today as the BJP's 'vidai (farewell) budget', NDTV reported.
Nirmala Sitharaman, in her 6th budget speech, promised 'economic reforms' aiming at accelerating growth.
Alongside calling it the 'farewell budget, the Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said the BJP government completed a decade of anti-people budgets.