Union Budget 2018 for women: Higher take-home pay, free gas connections in rural India

All eyes were on Arun Jaitley as the Finance Minister presented the last full Budget of the National Democratic Alliance government. And with an eye on the approaching Assembly elections - eight states go to polls this year - and the General Elections, this was a populist Budget in ways more than one. And while there was more for Bharat than for Urban India, here's what Jaitley's Budget had for the ladies.

Here's a look at the highlights from the FM's Budget 2018 for women:

- Take-home salary of new women employees to go up in the formal sector


- The government will fund 12% of wages for new employees of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) in all sectors

- The EPF contribution from women employees will be brought down from 12 per cent to 8 per cent in their first three years of employment

- There will be no changes in the employer's EPF contribution

- Women self-help groups will be encouraged to take up organic farming

- Loans to women self-help groups will increase to Rs 75,000 crore by March 2019

- Women below the poverty line to get eight crore free gas connections under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (UJJWALA)

- Under-privileged women will also get four crore electricity connections under Saubhagya Yojana.