New Delhi, Aug 19 - Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday made an offer of R990 crore to the women and child development ministry for its women empowerment programmes in gram panchayats.

 

He announced that 1% of the budget of the ministry of rural development will go towards the appointment of ‘Mahila Gram Samanvayaks’ or village coordinator. The rural development ministry has a budget of R99,000 crore.

“I make an offer. We can start with the most backward- Naxal-affected or districts where female literacy is low. We can share 1% of the budget of the rural development ministry budget. You can get R990 crore provided the finance ministry approvals are obtained,” he said at the launch of Convergence Projects of National Mission for Empowerment of Women here.

He made this offer citing the developments in Kamrup district of Assam and Pali of Rajasthan where all the gram sabhas have employed two women coordinators each for creating awareness on women issues. “I have learnt that in Kamrup and Pali all the gram sabhas have employed two women coordinators who are paid R4,000 per month,” he said. PTI