During the last three years (2019-22), around 40,000 women have been trained across India under Nai Roshni Scheme, Union Minister Smriti Irani said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

What is Nai Roshni scheme?

• Nai Roshni, a scheme for leadership development of minority women, is being implemented across India with an aim to empower and instill  confidence in women by providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with government systems, banks and other institutions at all levels.

• It aims empowerment of women from the minority communities and emboldening them to move out of the confines of their home and community and assume leadership roles and assert their rights, collectively or individually, in accessing services, facilities, skills, and opportunities besides claiming their due share of development benefits of the government for improving their lives and living conditions.

• The ministry has been implementing this Central Sector Scheme since 2012-13.

• It is a kind of sensitisation and awareness generation programme supported with hand-holding.

• The target groups under this scheme are women in the age group of 18-65 years from the notified minority communities, namely: Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Budhists, Jains and Parsis (Zoroastrians). 

• These women come from the poorest of the poor communities across social geographies in India. This scheme so far has been able to reach over four lakh minority women, helping in instilling confidence and belief of self-worth.

• It is basically a training programme conducted for the women covering areas related to programmes for women, health and hygiene, legal rights of women, financial literacy, digital literacy, Swachch Bharat, life skills and advocacy for social and behavioural change.

• The overall objective of the scheme is to embolden the minority women to move out of the confines of their homes and community and assume leadership roles in society. 

• The scheme provides for a six days training programme followed by handholding for a period of one year.

• Nai Roshni scheme has now been merged as a component of Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) scheme, aiming to improve livelihoods of minorities, particularly artisan communities, through skill development, education and leadership training, to support their entrepreneurship interventions.

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