Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Minister of State (IC) for Minority Affairs, informed that Apart from other schemes which are available to all, Ministry of Minority Affairs implements three specific schemes for women as below:-
(1) “Nai – Roshni” for Leadership Development of Minority Women specially for development of women belonging to notified minority communitiesnamely Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains withan aim to empower and instill confidence in women by providing knowledge, tool and techniques for interacting with Government system and others at all levels. The scheme is implemented through selected Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) all over the country.
(2)Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship for Meritorious Girls belonging to minorities implemented through Maulana Azad Education Foundation.
(3) “Mahila Samridhi Yojana” is implemented through National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC) wherein skill development training is imparted to group of women in women friendly trades. Training period is of maximum six months and raw material cost of upto Rs.1,500/- per trainee and stipend @ Rs.1000/- per trainee is provided. During the period of training, the women formed into Self Help Group, followed by infusion of micro-credit maximum upto Rs.1.00 lacs per member for the purpose of using the skill developed during the training, for income generation activities.