Maharashtra launches 4th Women Policy focusing on empowerment, skilling

MUMBAI: In a bid to reach out to women ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Maharashtra’s MahaYuti government, on the occasion of International Women’s Day on Friday, launched the 4th Women’s Policy with a focus on its effective implementation for overall development and empowerment of women.

The key elements of the policy include health, nutrition, well-being, education and skilling, gender-responsive governance and political participation, and ending sexual and gender-based violence.

Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare said that a three-tier arrangement will be put in place to periodically review the implementation of the policy – a high-level committee chaired by the Chief Minister, a State Task Force chaired by the Minister of Women and Child Development, and district level committee headed by the Guardian Minister.

This is the fourth Women’s Policy after the first policy was announced in 1994, the second in 2001 and the third in 2014.

Tatkare said that the fourth Women’s Policy was required as ten years have passed since the announcement of the third policy.

“An implementation plan has been prepared. Benchmarks have been set to measure the progress of policy implementation and responsibilities of various departments have been defined,” she said.

Incidentally, the policy does not include provisions for LGBTQ as done in the draft Women’s Policy prepared by the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government as the MahaYuti government plans to release special policies for LGBTQ and Child Development ahead of the Assembly elections slated for September-October this year.

As per the 2011 Census, of the total 11.24 crore state population, women constitute 54.13 lakh with a sex ratio of 929.

The new policy lays emphasis on 100 per cent enrolment and retention of adolescent girls in secondary and senior secondary level schools in remote and under-served pockets across rural, urban, and tribal areas.

It categorises the state into industrial zones to tailor skill development programmes to the unique needs and strengths of each region. Such categorisation will take into account factors like literacy levels and the migration patterns of women.

The policy proposes free health check-up camps in underserviced, remote and hard-to-reach areas across urban, rural and tribal areas, improved diagnostic services at all government health facilities up to the primary health centre level with improved referral systems and Initiation of demand-based day care centres in establishments with a high number of women.

Besides, daycare centre facilities in Special Industrial Areas and Commerce Zones will be established.

To end sexual and gender-based violence, the government will constitute the Internal Committee (IC) as stipulated in the POSH Act at all public and private organisations/institutions and establish a ‘BHAROSA CELL’ in all police headquarters.

Further, to enhance gender-responsive livelihoods, the policy proposes an emphasis on employment, enterprise, and skills development.

“Women play a significant role in agriculture, especially in rural areas, but they often face challenges due to the lack of access to appropriate and easy-to-use machinery. Industries will be encouraged to create women-friendly agricultural machinery as it is a crucial step towards gender–inclusive agriculture development,” Tatkare said.

She added that self-help groups will also be considered for providing dedicated space for establishing stalls in municipal council and corporation areas and hostels will be set up for women engaged in informal work, including seasonal workers such as sugarcane cutters and others.

Moreover, the policy proposes gender-responsive governance and political participation with the development of a comprehensive training module for elected women representatives covering leadership, planning, budgeting, programme management, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. It also emphasises on gender-sensitive natural resource management, climate change adaptation, and disaster management.