Ponnam pledges greater support for women’s empowerment initiatives

Minister for Transport and BC Welfare Ponnam Prabhakar said that greater support would be extended to women’s empowerment initiatives in the city.

The Minister reviewed ongoing development works and their progress at the GHMC headquarters on Wednesday with the Commissioner, Additional Commissioners, Zonal and Deputy Commissioners, and senior officials.

Emphasising women’s economic empowerment, Mr. Prabhakar said that the government was working with a clear focus on welfare and livelihoods. He said the number of self-help groups in Greater Hyderabad, currently over 72,942, should be increased to one lakh, and every woman from a BPL family should be enrolled as a member of a self-help group.

With the support of SETWIN, women’s groups in the city would be provided training in various livelihood options to enable them to become self-reliant, he said. Recalling the success of providing electric buses to rural self-help groups as an additional source of income, the Minister said 40 to 50 electric buses would similarly be allotted to women’s groups in Greater Hyderabad.

Officials briefed the Minister on key programmes, including H-CITI, the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP), the Strategic Nala Development Programme (SNDP), roads and storm water drains, sanitation, public health, town planning, women’s welfare, urban self-help groups, environment and air quality under the National Clean Air Programme.

Mr. Prabhakar said responsibilities of the GHMC officials would increase in the coming days and asked them to remain vigilant, prioritise public grievance redressal and ensure timely completion of works. He stressed the need for clear action plans and effective field-level problem-solving.