Draft National Policy for Women 2017 envisions women attaining full potential and participating as equal partners

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has prepared the draft National Policy for Women, 2017 after considering suggestions/comments received from stakeholders. The draft has been examined and approved by the Group of Ministers and has been submitted to the Cabinet for consideration. The Draft envisions a society in which women attain their full potential and are able to participate as equal partners in all spheres of life. The draft policy addresses the diverse needs of women through identified priority areas: (i) Health including food security and nutrition, (ii) Education, (iii) Economy (including agriculture, industry, labour, employment, NRI women, soft power, service sector, science and technology), Violence against women, (iv) Governance and decision making (v) Violence Against Women (vi) Enabling environment (including housing, shelter and infrastructure, drinking water and sanitation, media and culture, sports and social security) (vii) Environment and climate change.

Draft policy envisages efforts to be taken up to address the special needs of single women such as widows, separated, divorced, never-married and deserted women including women-headed households and single women living within households.

This information was given by Minister of State for Women and Child Development,   Dr. Virendra Kumar in reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.