Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced that 50,000 female undergraduate students in the state will be provided scooters in October-November as part of a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening women’s mobility, safety, education and economic independence.
The Chief Minister made the announcement ahead of Raksha Bandhan at an event in Lucknow, where he also launched the ‘Lokmata Ahilyabai Matri Shakti Yatra’, under which women aged 60 years and above will be able to travel free of cost on Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses.
The initiative is named after Ahilyabai Holkar, whom Adityanath described as an example of good governance, cultural preservation and women’s empowerment.
The Chief Minister also highlighted a special Raksha Bandhan travel facility under which women and one companion will be allowed to travel free on state roadways buses from August 27 to 29.
Addressing the gathering at Indira Pratishthan, Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh has around 12.5 crore women and that the state government was working to ensure their safety, dignity, self-reliance and leadership opportunities.
“Women are moving from the stove to the cheque, from the cheque to business and from business to technology,” he said, outlining the government’s approach towards increasing women’s participation in the economy.
Adityanath said the state’s female workforce participation rate had increased from around 12 per cent in 2017 to 36 per cent and that the government was working towards taking women’s participation to 50 per cent.
He said women were increasingly taking up night shifts and participating in economic activities without fear, attributing the change to measures aimed at improving security and public infrastructure.
The Chief Minister said the government had established Mission Shakti centres, AI-enabled Safe City networks, integrated emergency response systems through helplines 1090 and 112, women help desks and pink booths.
He said the number of women police personnel in Uttar Pradesh had increased from around 10,000 in 2017 to 45,000. With 32,000 recruitments currently under process, the number of women personnel in the police force is expected to reach around 50,000, he said.
According to the Chief Minister, 20 per cent of police recruitment has been mandated for women. He also highlighted the establishment of three women Provincial Armed Constabulary battalions named after Uda Devi in Lucknow, Jhalkari Bai in Gorakhpur and Avanti Bai in Badaun.
Adityanath said the government was also working to strengthen women’s economic independence through self-help groups, women-led enterprises, farmer producer organisations, startups and rural banking services.
He said women were involved in activities ranging from agriculture and animal husbandry to food processing, retail and handicrafts. Banking Correspondent Sakhi workers were taking banking services to villages, while the Namo Drone Didi initiative was creating new opportunities for women in agriculture.
The Chief Minister said that more than four lakh women associated with milk producer companies and other women-led organisations operating across 31 districts had moved towards greater economic self-reliance.
He added that women account for around half of the participation in the state’s startup ecosystem and said the next step was to ensure that women entrepreneurs had not only products but also access to branding, packaging, marketing, exhibitions and digital commerce.
Referring to the proposed expansion of women’s representation, Adityanath said economic empowerment would remain incomplete unless women were also present at decision-making tables.
He said the government was working to increase women’s participation in local governance, entrepreneurship, administration, education, the armed forces and sports.
The Chief Minister also highlighted several welfare initiatives covering different stages of a woman’s life. He said the Mukhyamantri Kanya Sumangala Yojana provides support from birth through graduation, while the mass marriage scheme provides financial assistance for marriage.
He said pension schemes for destitute women, elderly people and persons with disabilities were benefiting around 1.10 crore families, with beneficiaries receiving Rs 12,000 annually.
Adityanath also pointed to housing ownership, sanitation, electricity, LPG connections under the Ujjwala scheme, tap water connections and direct benefit transfers as measures that have improved the quality of life of women and families.
He said more than 65 lakh families had benefited from housing support and that programmes such as Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana and Mukhyamantri Suposhan Yojana were aimed at improving maternal and child nutrition.
The Chief Minister also referred to the ‘Lokmata Ahilyabai Matri Shakti Yatra’ as part of the state’s broader effort to provide greater mobility and independence to women. He said hostels named after Ahilyabai Holkar were being constructed for working women in several districts, including Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Bareilly, Prayagraj, Ayodhya, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Jhansi. Each hostel is planned to provide free accommodation for up to 500 working women.
Adityanath said women’s participation in public life and the economy should be viewed not as charity but as economic integration. He cited the achievements of women athletes, entrepreneurs and professionals as evidence of their growing role in the state’s development.
He also appealed to women to tie Rakhi not only to their brothers but also to soldiers, ex-servicemen and police personnel, describing it as a gesture to strengthen the broader security ecosystem.
Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh, Lucknow Mayor Sushma Kharakwal, Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal, Legislative Council members Lalji Prasad Nirmal, Avanish Singh and Umesh Dwivedi, and MLAs Neeraj Bora, Amaresh Kumar and OP Srivastava were among those present at the programme.
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