Schemes implemented under the Nirbhaya fund

The Indian government established the Nirbhaya fund to implement numerous schemes and projects to enhance safety and security of women. Under this framework, the Ministry of WCD implemented schemes such as One Stop Centre for women affected by violence, Women Helpline and Mahila Police Volunteers. These schemes are described as follows:

• One Stop Centre (OSC): OSCs are established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence in private and public spaces. OSCs are integrated with women helplines to provide services such as emergency response and rescue services, medical assistance, assistance to women in lodging FIRs, psychosocial support & counselling and legal aid and shelter video conferencing facility. As of February 28, 2025, there are 819 One Stop Centres currently operational across the country, aiding 10,98,777 women.
• Women Helpline (WHL): The WHL aims to provide immediate, 24-hour emergency and non-emergency referral services (to concerned authorities such as police/hospitals/ambulance services/District Legal Service Authority (DLSA)/and protection officers (PO)/OSCs) to women affected by violence. Under this scheme, the government provided a 24-hour toll-free short code ‘181’ for women seeking support and information about government schemes and programmes. Further, as of February 28, 2025, this ‘Women Helpline’ number is operational in 32 states/union territories and has provided assistance to 85,32,847 women (2,14,78,611 calls were received as of February 28, 2025).
• Mahila Police Volunteers (MPV): MPVs serve as a public-police interface to fight crime against women and report incidences such as domestic violence, child marriage, dowry harassment and violence faced by women in public spaces. MPVs have been approved in 13 states. As of March 2020, five states comprised ~9,531 MPVs.

Shakti Sadan Scheme:

Under the overarching ‘Mission Shakti’, erstwhile schemes of ‘Swadhar Greh’ for women in difficult circumstances and ‘Ujjawala Home’ for Prevention of Trafficking, have been merged and known as ‘Shakti Sadan Scheme’, which is an Integrated Relief and Rehabilitation Home for women in distressful situations including trafficked women. It aims at creating a safe and enabling environment for the women in such difficult situations, to enable them to overcome the adverse circumstances. Under the Scheme, financial assistance is provided to the States/UTs for running of Shakti Sadan in rented premises. As per the information shared by the States and Union Territories, as on December 31, 2024, a total of 404 functional Shakti Sadans were reported. During the period from April 1, 2014, to December 31, 2024, 2,92,681 women availed the facilities provided by these centers

Sakhi Niwas Scheme:

Sakhi Niwas Scheme ( Working Women Hostel (WWH) The objective of the Scheme is to provide safe, secure, conveniently located, and affordable accommodation for women who are in the workforce and/or aspire to join the workforce. Under the Scheme, financial assistance is provided to the States/UTs for running of Sakhi Niwas in rented premises. The scheme also makes a provision of Day Care Centre for children of the residents of the Sakhi Niwas. As per the information shared by the States and Union Territories, as on December 31, 2024, a total of 523 functional Sakhi Niwas were reported. During the period from April 1, 2014, to December 31, 2024, 5,29,483women availed the facilities provided by these centers

The Department of Expenditure (DoE), Ministry of Finance, under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) has allocated Rs. 5,000 crore (US$ 581 million) for greenfield construction of new WWH to 28 States during FY25.

Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY):

Launched in 2017, the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana is a maternity benefit programme, which provides a cash incentive of US$ 66 (Rs. 5,000 ) to pregnant women and lactating mothers (excluding those who are employed with the central/state governments/or are in receipt of similar benefits under any law in force). This incentive is provided for the first living child of the family fulfilling specific maternal and child health conditions. In addition, the compensation will be given in 3 instalments of US$ 13 (Rs. 1,000), US$ 26 (Rs. 2,000) and US$ 26 (Rs. 2,000). Cash incentive of Rs. 6,000 (US$ 71.92) is also provided to eligible beneficiaries for second child subject to the second child being a girl to promote positive behavioural change towards girl child. As of October 2023, Rs. 321.57 crore (US$ 38.6 million) were disbursed through direct cash transfers to 8,14,612 beneficiaries.

Palna Scheme (earlier named as National Creche Scheme):

Through this scheme, the government aimed to provide day care facilities for children (aged from six months to six years) of working mothers. The scheme provides a package of integrated services such as day care facilities, including sleeping facilities; early stimulation for children (aged < 3 years) and pre-school education for children (aged three to six years); supplementary nutrition (from local sources); monitoring growth and conducting health check-ups and immunisation. As of December 31, 2024, a total of 1,249 functional Palna centres were reported, having assisted 1,64,730 beneficiaries.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Scheme:

The BBBP scheme has completed a decade since its launch on January 22, 2015, which aims to prevent Gender biased sex selective elimination, ensure survival and protection of girl child and also to ensure education of the girl child. Through this scheme, the government aimed to address the decline in Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and other issues related to women empowerment. In addition, the scheme was focused on generating awareness about the rights of a girl child through community engagement, stopping sex selection at birth and encouraging positive action to support their education growth and development. According to the Health Management Information System (HMIS), the Sex Ratio at Birth (is a monitoring parameter to record the progress of this scheme) improved by 16 points from 918 (2014-15) to 934 (2019-20). Of the 640 districts covered under the BBBP, 422 districts posted improvement in SRB from 2014-15 to 2018-2019. Since April 2024, a total of 14,092 sectoral activities and 9,533 convergence activities have been conducted.

Overview

In 2001, Chief Minister Mr. Naveen Patnaik launched Mission Shakti in Odisha to empower women in the state.

In 2018, ‘Mission Shakti’ was accorded the status of a directorate under Orissa’s department of women and child development. In March 2021, Odisha’s cabinet approved the state government’s decision to create a separate department of ‘Mission Shakti’ and bring The Mission Shakti Directorate, OLM (Odisha Livelihoods Mission) and the State Urban Development Agency together, as they work primarily for women SHGs and avoid dual federating units. Mission Shakti has the clear objective of empowering women through gainful activities by providing credit and market linkage. Promotion of Women's Self-Help Groups (WSHGs) has therefore been adopted as a key strategy for achieving women's empowerment. As of March 2021, ~70 lakh women have been organised into 6 lakh groups in all blocks and urban local bodies of the state.

Vision and Mission of Mission Shakti

• Mission Statement: “Help construct a society that is self-reliant, conscious of socioeconomic issues, where there is a spirit of cooperation, where women are appropriately skilled to undertake their choice of activities without hindrances or dependence, where there is leadership development, while maintaining gender equity and above all, each respecting values of others and striving for the good of the greater society.”
• Vision: Mission Shakti aims to make Odisha a land of equal opportunities where women are empowered to live with dignity and enjoy economic prosperity.

Key Initiatives under Mission Shakti

• Issued order to hand over unused government properties to Mission Shakti: In April 2021, Chief Minister Mr.Naveen Patnaik asked district collectors to hand over unused government property and assets of districts, blocks and Panchayats to women self-help groups (WSHGs), under Mission Shakti, within 2 months to conduct socioeconomic development activities in their localities.
• Department of Housing and Urban Development collaborated with Mission Shakti: In March 2021, the Housing and Urban Development department partnered with Mission Shakti to run 167 Aahar centres (a centre that provides subsidised food items) through women self-help groups (WSHGs). As part of its WSHG empowerment programme via community-driven urban initiatives, the department also inked a pact with Mission Shakti groups and Central Food Technology and Research Institute (CFTRI) to help WSHGs manufacture pickles.
• Partnership with YES BANK: In March 2021, Spice Money, a rural fintech, joined forces with YES BANK to empower rural women entrepreneurs by turning them into business correspondent agents (BCA) on the Spice Money network. The Government of Odisha appointed YES BANK as the partner bank under Mission Shakti. In this initiative, any woman—aged 18-45 years, with a 10th standard certificate and basic understanding of a computer/smartphone—can avail the opportunity to become a BCA.
• Plans to increase loans to US$ 6,003 (Rs. 5 lakh) for women self-help groups (WSHGs): Through the Mission Shakti programme, the state government has been providing interest-free loans of up to US$ 4,009 (Rs. 3 lakh) each to WSHGs and is considering a proposal to hike the amount to Rs. 5 lakh. As of March 2021, the government offered loan assistance worth US$ 534.55 million (Rs. 4,000 crore) to women-led producer groups, benefitting >2.17 lakh women.
• Online services for Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti department: In February 2021, Chief Minister Mr. Naveen Patnaik launched 5 online services that aimed to empower women and provide better childcare facilities. The online services included the ‘Mo Chhatua’ app to streamline the supply chain management of ‘Take Home Ration’ (Chhatua); ‘e-Kalika’ app to monitor children <3 years; ‘Mo Sishu’ portal—a comprehensive web-based information, management and monitoring system for child protection services; ‘MAMATA’ app and Management information system (MIS) to transfer cash benefits to pregnant women; and the e-manadeya portal for paperless transfer of honorarium to 134,758 Anganwadi (a type of rural child care centre) workers.