PM’s Varanasi projects worth ₹6,350 crore and the Mahila Sammelan

The PM’s Varanasi projects and Mahila Sammelan: what happened?

Varanasi is a big health and pilgrimage centre for eastern UP. This event joined new projects with a message on women’s role in development. The dairy bonus showed how cooperatives put cash straight into rural women’s hands.

• The PM inaugurated and laid foundation stones of projects worth around Rs 6,350 crore at a women’s convention in Varanasi. [PIB]
• Sisters linked to Banas Dairy received Rs 106 crore as bonus; a 100-bed critical care block was also founded. [PIB]

Which projects were covered?

• A signature bridge on the Ganga for Purvanchal connectivity.
• Cleaning of the Ganga, ghat development, governance buildings, storage for farmers at Harhua and Bhawanipur, old age homes and women’s hostels.
• Development of Sant Kabir Sthali and restoration of Sant Ravidas Park in Nagwa.

What did the PM say on women?

• About 10 crore women have joined Self-Help Groups in 11 years, and 3 crore have become Lakhpati Didis.
• Two years ago, Sukanya Samriddhi accounts were opened for 27,000 girls in Kashi in one month.
• The Nari Shakti Vandan Act, 2023 gives 33 per cent reservation to women; he called for its early implementation.

What does the Constitution say on women’s reservation?

• Article 330A reserves, as nearly as may be, one-third of directly elected Lok Sabha seats for women.
• Article 334A says it takes effect after delimitation based on the first census after the 106th Amendment Act, 2023, for fifteen years.

What can Prelims ask on the PM’s Varanasi projects and Mahila Sammelan?

• Varanasi, 28 April 2026: projects worth about ₹6,350 crore; ₹106 crore Banas Dairy bonus.
• Article 330A: women’s reservation in Lok Sabha; Article 334A: commencement after delimitation.