Haryana lowers interest rate on Edu-loans for girls

Chandigarh, Mar 8 (UNI) To encourage girls and women towards higher education in India and abroad, the Haryana Government has subsidised the interest liability by five per cent on educational loans taken by them.

Congratulating the women on the occasion of International Women Day today, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that his government was committed to uplift the socio-economic status of women and a number of new schemes had been launched during the last three years for their empowerment and development. Haryana was the first state in the country where norms of nutrition for woman have been increased from Rs 2.50 to Rs 5 per mother and per adolescent girl.

The Chief Minister said that women and children were receiving a special focus of the government. Other initiatives for women included constitution of village level committees of women panches, sarpanches and other representatives to facilitate implementation of programmes relating to women and children. As many as 6500 such committees had already been constituted.

He said that another major initiative of the Government was the formation of Sakshar Mahila Samooha(SMS). More than 6000 SMSs were functioning successfully in the state. These groups of educated women and girls in the villages would be useful in generating community awareness about gender issues, literacy, universalization of elementary education, health and nutrition.

The Chief Minister said that Haryana Urban Development Authority would give 90 per cent rebate on payment of extension fee on properties exclusively owned by women. This rebate would be 100 per cent for properties exclusively owned by widows.

Women having power meter connectionsin their name were also being given rebate of 10 paise per unit in electricity bills.

Similarly, a rebate of two per cent on stamp duty on transfer of property in the name of women was also been given.

Mr Hooda said that the new schemes which had been launched for the betterment of girls and women included Ladli Social Security Pension Scheme, Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Vivah Shagun and Janani Suvidha Yojna. Haryana was the first state in the northern India to set up "Bhagat Phool Singh Women University" at Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat district which would provide golden opportunity to women to get higher education, he said and added that the staff including the Vice Chancellor of this University would be a woman.

Mr Hooda said that special concessional travelling facility of 50 per cent in the monthly bus passes to girl students had also been given.

Similarly, 25 per cent reservation for girls in industrial training institutes and institutions of technical education had also been given. He said that 31 Industrial Training Institutes were being run exclusively for women.

The Chief Minister said that to provide institutional safe delivery to the women living in rural areas, as many as 475 delivery huts had been set up in the state so far. A new project had been started in Mewat district from October last with nine ambulances for transportation of pregnant women to the nearest health institutions.

Mr Hooda said the Best Mother Award and awards to rural adolescent girls had also be instituted.

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