By IANS,
New Delhi : India is strengthening its self-help groups to involve women in income generating work to arm them against the impact of economic meltdown, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath said.
Addressing the plenary session of the third East Asia Gender Equality Ministerial Meeting at Seoul Thursday, Tirath said India is committed to uplift women in every sphere of life.
She said the government is making all efforts to protect women from the impact of economic slowdown on their health, nutritional level and economic sustainability.
“Self-help group movement is being strengthened further to mobilise more and more women for income-generating activities with linkage to micro-credit,” said a statement issued here Friday.
“The Indian government is committed to uplift women in every sphere of life and it is contemplating to increase reservation for women up to 50 percent in local government, which is 33 percent at the moment,” she added.
Commenting on the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill, Tirath said a bill to reserve one-third seats for women in Indian Parliament and assemblies is in “active contemplation.”
During her three-day visit that ends Friday, Tirath also discussed the scope of collaboration between the two countries on women related issues.