Female Enrollment In STEM Courses Highest In World: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Female enrollment in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses has reached 43 per cent, which is one of the world's highest figures, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted while presenting the interim Budget 2024 on Thursday.

She said, "Female enrollment in higher education has gone up by twenty-eight per cent in ten years. In STEM courses, girls and women constitute forty-three per cent of enrollment - one of the highest in the world. All these measures reflect in the increasing participation of women in the workforce."

Ms Sitharaman said the empowerment of women through entrepreneurship, ease of living, and dignity, mentioning, "Thirty crore Mudra Yojana loans have been given to women entrepreneurs."

The finance minister also discussed the government's plans to establish more medical colleges by using existing hospital infrastructure, noting the ambition of many youths to become qualified doctors and serve the people through improved healthcare services.

"Our government plans to set up more medical colleges by utilising the existing hospital infrastructure under various departments. A committee for this purpose will be set up to examine the issues and make relevant recommendations," she said.

In her budget speech, Ms Sitharaman highlighted the accomplishments of the Skill India mission, which has trained 1.4 crore youths, upskilled and reskilled 54 lakh youths, and established 3,000 new ITIs. She also mentioned the establishment of several educational institutions like 7 IITs, 16 IIITs, 7 IIMs, 15 AIIMS, and 390 universities.

Regarding financial support for entrepreneurial aspirations, the minister said, "PM Mudra Yojana has sanctioned 43 crore loans aggregating to Rs 22.5 lakh crore for entrepreneurial aspirations of our youth. Besides that, Fund of Funds, Start-Up India, and Start-Up Credit Guarantee schemes are assisting our youth. They are also becoming 'rozgardata'."