Jammu: Finance Minister Haseeb A Drabu may have presented second budget of his career in the state Assembly on Monday but the stamp of first time woman Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was all too visible in the budget document.
Plenty of sops and announcements made by the Finance Minister for the women folk in the budget document were incorporated at the behest of the Chief Minister and was aimed at sending across a direct message to the fairer sex that their long pending demands and concessions offered to the girl child were accorded top priority in the new dispensation.
Be it announcement of constructing exclusive toilet facilities for women across hospitals, starting city bus services in both the capital cities, the intent was made clear by the Finance Minister that the government was sensitive and responsive towards basic needs of women folk and the issues ignored for a long time would get top priority under the leadership of Mehbooba Mufti.
The most significant announcement of reserving 10 percent land in industrial estates for women entrepreneurs would go a long way in motivating them to step out and compete to create a space for themselves To prevent its misuse Finance Minister has added a rider to the proposal claiming if the allotted land is transferred it shall be to an enterprise which is incorporated in the name of a woman and has women as the majority shareholders as directors.
The decision of the BJP-PDP government to waive off the fee of all girl students in the state government run educational institutions upto higher secondary level is also aimed at improving female literacy rate and motivate parents in rural sector not to prevent their daughters from attending the schools.
After kickstarting the ground work on setting up four police stations, Finance Minister went ahead with the announcement of setting up of four more women police stations in Pulwama, Kupwara, Kathua and Udhampur, clearly signalling the decision taken by the Chief Minister to empower women and seek justice at her door step would be accorded top priority.
Announcement regarding setting up of Two Entrepreneur Development Centres, at Srinagar and Jammu to help, guide, and train aspiring women entrepreneurs is also a welcome step aimed at training enterprising women to find wings before fulfilling their dreams.