New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) India will soon launch a new scheme for adolescent girls with an aim to improve their health and nutrition status, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath said here Friday.
“We will soon launch a new scheme ‘SABLA’ for girls in the age group of 11-18 years,” Tirath told reporters, as she listed the achievements of her ministry during the last 100 days.

“The scheme also aims to empower them. The scheme will be launched very soon,” she added.

Tirath said the Planning Commission has earmarked Rs.45 billion for this scheme for the 11th Five Year Plan.

The minister said the government will also launch a national mission for empowerment of women (NMEW), which will act as a single window for all women related programmes and schemes to ensure that they get quick benefits.

“In order to ensure holistic empowerment of women, the government has prepared a proposal to set up the NMEW. The mission will ensure convergence of various schemes and programmes for the development and welfare of the women,” Tirath said.

“After consultation with the various stakeholders, the ministry has prepared a concept note and further action is being taken to formally launch the mission,” she added.

The minister said they are also considering a social security scheme for housewives in collaboration with the insurance agencies.

“We are working on a social security scheme for housewives. Under this, we want to provide financial security to women if some problem occurs (in their marriage),” she said.

“Even though we have anti-dowry laws, parents still give dowry when they get their daughters married. We will ask them to get this insurance for their daughters in order to ensure security for them in case something unfortunate happens,” Tirath said.

She said finer details of the programme are being worked out.

“It can be either a partnership of both the government and parents. We are also going to discuss the possibilities of the programme with the insurance companies. But nothing has been finalised as yet as the proposal is in the initial stages,” she said.

It will take two to three months in giving the scheme final shape, she added.

“I want to make it compulsory because otherwise nobody would follow it properly,” the minister said.

“The ministry has also finalised the legislation to combat the menace of sexual harassment of women at workplace after wider consultation with various sections of the society, which include a meeting with women MPs in August. The ministry is also working for re-introduction of Immoral Trafficking (Prevention ) Bill in parliament,” she said.