Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday, 12 June 2026, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's twelve years in office with bringing 'unprecedented and historic transformation' in women's empowerment, citing four flagship central schemes that he said have collectively reshaped the lives of crores of women across India.

Context

Posting under the hashtag #12YearsOfNariShakti, CM Dhami wrote that under PM Modi's 'visionary leadership and effective guidance', women today are not merely becoming self-reliant but are 'hoisting the flag of their talent, capability and leadership in every field' and playing a vital role in building a Viksit Bharat (Developed India). He described the current era as a 'golden chapter' of respect, security and empowerment for Nari Shakti (women's power).

The post names four schemes — Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, and Lakhpati Didi Yojana — as the pillars of this transformation, saying they have provided women with new opportunities in education, health, dignified living, economic self-reliance and self-employment.

Policy Backdrop

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched in May 2016, extended LPG connections to households headed by women living below the poverty line, aiming to replace biomass-based cooking and reduce indoor air pollution. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, rolled out in January 2015, was designed to address a declining child sex ratio and promote girls' enrolment in schools.

Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, started in April 2015, offers collateral-free micro-credit loans of up to Rs 10 lakh, with women borrowers accounting for a large share of its beneficiary base. Lakhpati Didi Yojana, operating under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), targets women in self-help groups with the goal of enabling each member to earn at least Rs 1 lakh per year through skill-linked livelihood activities.

These initiatives sit within a broader policy arc that dates to the National Policy for Empowerment of Women (2001) and was accelerated after 2014, when the NDA government listed women's safety, health and financial inclusion among its top budget priorities. Successive Union budgets have since expanded gender budgeting statements across ministries and routed more direct benefit transfers to women-headed accounts.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of the schemes cited by CM Dhami span rural women, women entrepreneurs, and girl children — three groups that policy planners have historically identified as underserved by earlier welfare frameworks. Self-help group networks under DAY-NRLM now link millions of rural women to formal credit and market linkages, a model the Centre has positioned as a replicable template for state governments.

For Uttarakhand, a hill state with significant female labour-force participation in agriculture and handicrafts, schemes such as Lakhpati Didi and Mudra carry particular relevance given the high rate of male out-migration. State-level implementation of these central programmes has been a recurring theme in CM Dhami's public communications.

What's Next

Analysts tracking women's welfare outcomes will look to the next round of the National Family Health Survey and state-wise utilisation reports under DAY-NRLM in the 2026-27 budget session for independent data on whether the gains highlighted in political messaging are reflected in ground-level indicators. The #12YearsOfNariShakti framing suggests the BJP intends to consolidate this narrative as a core electoral and governance credential heading into future cycles. Whether scheme outcomes keep pace with the scale of the ambition articulated by leaders like CM Dhami will be the central question for evaluators and opposition critics alike.