Ministry of Women & Child Development

Gender Budgeting Scheme

Objective

• To initiate an integrated approach and guide the Gender Budgeting Cells (GBCs) set - up by different Central Ministries/Departments by disseminating the concept, tools and strategy of GB
• To coordinate and monitor gender budgeting exercises of GBCs and facilitate gender budgeting analysis.
• To organize workshops to facilitate capacity building and training for various stakeholders including officials of Central and State Governments, PSUs, corporate sector, PRIs and NGOs, etc.
• To provide assistance to develop training modules/packages, training material and information booklets and manuals for gender budgeting for all stakeholders
• To encourage State Governments and PRIs in evolving plans and strategies for undertaking gender budgeting by providing assistance, support and consultancy services for organizing Workshops, Seminars, Training Programmes, etc.
• To provide assistance to support research studies, surveys, etc to Research Institutes, NGOs, etc for gender budgeting.
• To pilot action on gender sensitive review of national policies such as fiscal, monetary, environment, trade etc
• To pilot action on gender review and gender audit of important legislations
• Guide and undertake collection of gender - disaggregated data.
• Conduct gender based impact analysis, beneficiary needs assessment and beneficiary incidence analysis
• Collate and promote best practices on gender budgeting.

Eligibility of the Implementing Organisation/Agencies

• The implementing agencies can be the
• Social Welfare Department, State Government
• Women and Child Welfare Department, State Government
• Women’s Development Corporations
• State Commissions for Women
• Women’s Development Centres
• Rural (Panchayati Raj Institutions) & Urban Local Bodies
• Voluntary Organizations with three years’ experience after registration
• Universities & UGC approved Institutions
• Public Sector Undertakings etc.

The organization must have adequate experience in implementing women and child related projects and programmes etc. It should have facilities, resources and personnel to implement the project for which assistance is sought.

For More Information: Gender Budgeting Scheme (66.8KB)

Grant – in -aid (GIA) Scheme for Assistance to Voluntary Organisations

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing a Scheme called the General Grant -in -Aid Scheme, also called Scheme for innovative projects for women and children. The objective of the Scheme is to support innovative voluntary action and initiatives to render services for women and children. This Scheme is meant to supplement the existing schemes of the Ministry and of the Central Social Welfare Board and not to duplicate them. Financial assistance is provided for services that are not covered by the structured schemes of the Ministry or CSWB.

Categories of Projects

• Project that suggests a new approach to tackle a pressing social problem.
• Project which fills essential gaps in existing services and complements them so as to maximise the impact.
• Project to tackle a problem area which is relatively unserviced but where need is urgent.
• Project which provides integrated services, all the components need not be financially supported by one source.
• Project which is community based and renders non - institutional services. Where the nature of the problem so demands, institutional programmes will also be supported

For More Information: Grant- in - aid (GIA) Scheme for Assistance to Voluntary Organisations in the field of Women and Child Development (83.5KB)

Grant-In-Aid for Research, Publications and Monitoring

Scope

The projects sponsored by the Department of Women & Child Development will be in the fields of welfare and development of women and children including Food and Nutrition aspects. However, priority within these broad areas will be given to research projects of an applied nature keeping in consideration plan policies and programmes, and social problems requiring urgent public intervention. The grants will cover (i) research including action research for the development of innovative programmes or for testing the feasibility and efficacy of programmes and services ; and (ii) workshops/seminars/conferences which will be helpful in formulating research proposals, disseminating research findings or in social situational analysis likely to be helpful in planning, programming and review of implementation, (iii) monitoring of programmes and (iv) training of personnel, (v) promotion of innovative activities.

Grants (and expenditure) under the scheme cover the following categories

• Grants for research (including action research)
• Grants to individual scholar for research studies
• Grants for Workshops/Seminar/Conferences
• Grants for monitoring activities
• Grants for training of personnel
• Grants for promotion of innovative activities

All social science disciplines will be recognized for sponsoring projects.

Research Grants

• Grant under this category can be made to an institution or a group of institutions for carrying out a specific research project with one or more scholars directing it. These institutions will include universities, research institutes, and voluntary organizations, professional associations in the field of women and child development and similar organizations/agencies which have the capacity to do research. Institutions set up and fully funded by Central Government/State Governments/Public Sector Undertakings will also be eligible. The voluntary organization should have 3 (three) years’ experience after registration.
• It may also be given to an institution for a project which is of the nature of collective effort of a group of scholars writing papers on different aspects of a problem under a broad framework by the editors.
• Assistance can also be given for a group of projects to be undertaken sequentially by an institution(s). But in this case, the financial sanction of the Department of Women and Child Development (mentioned as Department hereafter) will be given only to one project at a time. Research projects on a specific topic carried out simultaneously by several institutions following a common framework can also be entertained for purpose of financial support.
• Professional and Consulting agencies/Organisations engaged in research activities will be extended assistance for conducting qualitative research studies. The selection procedure for organizations undertaking qualitative work will however not be governed by general norms, but would be based on technical proposals on competitive basis.

Eligibility

• Non University organizations registered under any statute in India e.g. Societies Act, Trust Act, Co-operatives Act, Companies Act etc. normally with three years’ experience after registration would be eligible for assistance, besides all UGC approved academic institutions engaged in research activities and scholars, under individual research category.

For More Information: Grant-In-Aid for Research, Publications and Monitoring (151KB)

Assistance for the Construction/ Expansion of Hostel Building for Working Women with a Day Care Centre

With the progressive change in the economic structure of the country more and more women are living out of their homes in search of employment in big cities and urban and rural townships. One of the main difficulties faced by such women is lack of suitable and safe accommodation Voluntary Organizations have been approaching the Government of India, from time to time for financial assistance with a view to providing hostel facilities to such women. The Government of India having appreciated the difficulties faced by such women and have decided to introduce a scheme for grant – in - aid for construction of new/ expansion of existing building for providing hostel facilities to working women in cities, smaller towns and also in rural areas.

Objectives

Proposal for construction of hostel should be made for one or more than one of the following objectives:

• To provide accommodation for single working women, unmarried, widows, divorced, separated, married when husband is out of town:
• To provide accommodation to women who are being trained for employment provided the training period does not exceed one year. The number of working women falling in this category should not be more than 30% of the total number of women in the hostel
• To provide accommodation to the girl students for a period of five years on the condition that first preference will be given to working women only. After that if there are any vacancies accommodation will be provided to the students also but amongst them, preference will be given to those studying in post school professional courses. The category of women who are being trained for employment and the girl students together should not be more than 30% of the total number of women in hostels.

Eligibility

Voluntary agencies/public trusts working in the field of women's welfare/social welfare women's education are eligible for assistance under the Scheme. A voluntary organization should be registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act 1860 or corresponding State Acts. Public Trust should be registered under any law for the time being in force. Women Development Corporations, Universities, Schools/Colleges of Social Work shall also be eligible for financial assistance under the Scheme.

• In addition such bodies like local bodies or cooperative institutions may also be eligible for seeking assistance under the Scheme. Such body should have the following characteristics
• It should be recognized and its work should be reported to be satisfactory by the State Government /Union Territory Administration concerned
• It should have a properly constituted Managing Body with its powers, duties and responsibilities clearly defined and laid down in a written constitution
• It should ordinarily have been engaged in the field of women's welfare/social welfare/women's education for a minimum period of two years prior to the request for grant – in - aid under the scheme
• Its financial position should be sound and it should have facilities, resources, personnel and experience to initiate the construction of hostel
• It should not be run for profit to any individual or a body of individuals and it should be prepared to run the hostel and the Day - care Centre/pre -school for children on a no profit basis
• It should be in possession of land for construction of building

For More Information: Construction/ Expansion of Hostel Building for Working Women with a Day Care Centre (31.1KB)

Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)

The STEP Programme aims to increase the self - reliance and autonomy of women by enhancing their productivity and enabling them to take up income generation activities. It provides training for skill Upgradation to poor and asset less women in the traditional sector viz. agriculture, animal husbandry, dairying, fisheries, handlooms, handicrafts, khadi and village industries sericulture, social forestry and wasteland development.

Objectives

• To mobilise women in small viable groups and make facilities available through training and access to credit.
• To provide training for skill Upgradation.
• To enable groups of women to take up employment – cum - income generation programmes by providing backward and forward linkages.
• To provide support services for further improving training and employment conditions of women.

Implementing Agencies

• The scheme is implemented through Public Sector Organisations, District Rural Development Agencies, Federations, Co-operatives and Voluntary Organisation registered under the societies Registration Act, 1860 or under the corresponding State Acts. Recipients of financial assistance under STEP are required to be bodies, organisations or agencies working in rural areas, although their headquarters may be located in urban areas.

For More Information: Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) (63.8KB)

SWADHAR - A Scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances

Although Indian family as a social institution is well known for the emotional and physical support that it provides to its extended members, many a time it fails to respond to the needs of women, especially for women in difficult circumstance like widows, destitute and deserted women, women ex-prisoners, victims of sexual abuse and crimes, including those trafficked and rescued from brothels, migrant or refugee women who have been rendered homeless due to natural calamities like flood, cyclone, earthquake, mentally challenged women, women victims of terrorist violence etc.  Often the support of immediate or extended family are not available due to reasons ranging from economic instability of the family to provide such support to the breakdown of joint family system to the social bias against the marginalized women as also the attitude and value attached to such women.  Sometimes society itself drives such women out of the system to lead lives of sub human existence. More often vulnerable women in distress end up as beggars or prostitutes for their own survival and at times for survivals and maintenance of their dependent children.
Very limited State intervention available through old age home, short stay home, Nari Niketan etc,  cover only a fringe of the problems of such women. Therefore a scheme known as ‘Swadhar’ has been designed with a more flexible and innovative approach to cater to the requirement of various types of women in   distress in diverse situations under different conditions.  The  Swadhar Scheme purports to address the specific vulnerability of each of group of women in difficult circumstances through a Home-based holistic and integrated approach.

Objective

The following shall be the objectives of the scheme:

• To provide primary need of shelter, food, clothing and care to the marginalized women/girls living in difficult circumstances who are without any social and economic support
• To provide emotional support and counseling to such women
• To rehabilitate them socially and economically through education, awareness, skill up gradation and personality development through behavioral training etc.
• To arrange for specific clinical, legal and other support for women/girls in need of those interventions by linking and networking with other organizations in both Govt. & Non- Govt. sector on case to case basis
• To provide for help line or other facilities to such women in distress; and
• To provide such other services as will be required for the support and rehabilitation to such women in distress.

Target Group/Beneficiaries

The following shall be the target group beneficiaries of the scheme

• Widows deserted by their families and relatives and left uncared near religious places where they are victims of exploitation;
• Women prisoners released from jail and without family support

• Women survivors of natural disaster who have been rendered     homeless and   are without any social and economic support;
• Trafficked women/girls rescued or runaway from brothels or other     places or women/girl victims of sexual crimes who are disowned by family or who do not want to go back to respective family for various reasons;
• Women victims of terrorist/extremist violence who are without any family support and without any economic means for survival
• Mentally challenged women (except for the psychotic categories   who require care in specialized environment in mental hospitals) who are without any support of family or relatives.
• Women with HIV/AIDS deserted by their family or women who have lost their husband due to HIV/AIDS and are without social/economic support; or similarly placed women in difficult circumstances.

For More Information: SWADHAR - A Scheme for Women in Difficult Circumstances

Ujjawala

• Trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation is an organized crime that violates basic human rights. India has emerged as a source, destination and transit for both in - country and cross border trafficking. The problem of trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation is especially challenging due to its myriad complexities and variation. Poverty, low status of women, lack of a protective environment etc are some of the causes for trafficking.
• A multi sectoral approach is needed which will undertake preventive measures to arrest trafficking especially in vulnerable areas and sections of population; and to enable rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of the trafficked victims.
• Keeping the above issues and gaps in mind the Ministry has formulated a Central Scheme “Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking for Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re - Integration of Victims of Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation — Ujjawala”. The new scheme has been conceived primarily for the purpose of preventing trafficking on the one hand rescue and rehabilitation of victims on the other.

Objective of the Scheme

• To prevent trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation through social mobilization and involvement of local communities, awareness generation programmes, generate public discourse through workshops/seminars and such events and any other innovative activity.
• To facilitate rescue of victims from the place of their exploitation and place them in safe custody.
• To provide rehabilitation services both immediate and long - term to the victims by providing basic amenities/needs such as shelter, food, clothing, medical treatment including counselling, legal aid and guidance and vocational training.
• To facilitate reintegration of the victims into the family and society at large
• To facilitate repatriation of cross - border victims to their country of origin.

Target Group/Beneficiaries

• Women and children who are vulnerable to trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
• Women and children who are victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.

Eligibility Conditions

The implementing organizations must fulfill the following eligibility conditions:

• The agency should be registered under law and must have a properly constituted Managing Body with its powers, duties and responsibilities clearly defined and laid down in its Constitution
• The organization must not work for the profit of any individual or body of individuals
• It should ordinarily have three years’ experience after its registration
• Its financial position should be sound
• It should have facilities, resources, experience and personnel to initiate the scheme for which assistance is sought.

For More Information: Ujjawala - A Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking (82.8KB)

Source: Ministry of Women & Child Development