Uttarakhand Raises Gender Budget for Women Empowerment

Dehradun, Mar 18: For empowering women, Uttarakhand government has increased the gender budget by nearly Rs 200 crore for 2010-11.

Concerned over the skewed sex ratio in the Uttarakhand state, the government has earmarked Rs 1417.75 crore for gender budget, meant for women empowerment through various schemes.

The allocated amount for 2010-11 is nearly 17.65 percent more than the previous fiscal when it was Rs 1205.04 crore.

For the first time, Rs one crore has been allocated for providing free gas connections to rural women while an equal amount has been provided for employment-oriented plantation of herbs like Harr, Bahera and Trifla.

The Uttaranchal state government has also earmarked Rs 50 lakh for protecting women against domestic violence, while Rs 5 lakh each has been provided for constructing homes for mentally challenged women and promoting widow marriage.