Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Ponguru Narayana while celebrating ‘International Women’s Day’ envisaged a future where a woman entrepreneur emerges from every household in the State, as a symbol of self-reliance.

At the Sunday’s event conducted in Nellore, the Minister distributed financial assistance worth ₹1,370 crore to Self Help Group (SHG) women.

On this year’s theme ‘Give to gain’, the Minister said that the concept was to strengthen the hands of a woman to make her home a fortress, and thus strengthen the entire State. He highlighted the government’s decision to lift the cap on the number of children covered under ‘Thalliki Vandanam’, to ensure education access to every child.

Nellore would soon witness smart streets where the Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA) women will be able to market their products and earn a decent livelihood. The 120 container outlets in the first ‘Smart Bazar’ would be provided financial assistance of ₹1 lakh each through his Narayana educational institutions.

Collector Himanshu Shukla credited his mother for instilling confidence in him and recalled her role in shaping him into what he has become today. The multi-faceted roles played by women in today’s society are worth a salute, he said, pointing out that 70% of district level officials in Nellore were women.

MLAs Vemireddy Prashanthi, Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, Joint Collector Venkateswarlu, Mayor D. Sujatha, municipal corporation Commissioner Y. Nandan and other officials took part.