Lucknow, Oct. 1 -- A small but significant policy change introduced two decades ago has steadily emerged as a big tool of socio-economic empowerment of women in Uttar Pradesh, where more than 55% of houses and other properties are bought and registered in favour of a female member of families to avail of the stamp duty discount, as per official data. In 2006, the state government allowed a 1% rebate on stamp duty on a property valued up to Rs 10 lakh and a maximum benefit of Rs 10,000 if the property was purchased and registered in the name of a woman. The move has since encouraged lakhs of families to transfer property ownership to women. "In more than 50% of the cases, families now prefer to buy a house, plot or any other property in the name of a woman to avail of the rebate and this has no doubt proved to be an effective medium of women empowerment in UP," Stamps and Registration IG Neha Sharma said, adding "The expansion of scope of the policy by the current government in July this year will encourage even a greater number of families to buy property in name of a woman." With a view to promoting Nari Shakti in the state, the Yogi Adityanath government in July extended the 1% stamp duty exemption for women buying property valued up to Rs 1 cr, capping the benefits at Rs 1 lakh. Official data of the past three years shows that more than half of all property transactions in the state were registered in the name of women. In 2022, 58.07% of total property transfers were in women's names. The trend remained strong in 2023 (56.03%) and 2024 (55.75%). Of the total 26,19,823 property sales deeds executed across the state in 2024, 14,63,939 were done in favour of women. This has naturally reflected in stamp duty collections. In 2022, women accounted for 50% of stamp duty receipts from property registrations. The share stood at 47.33% in 2023 and 45.48% in 2024. The same data reveals that women's property registrations accounted for stamp duty collections of Rs 88,552 crore and registration fees of Rs 15,847 crore during 2024. The data for the current year (from January to July) shows a similar trend continuing. A district-wise analysis of 2024 data shows Lucknow emerged as the frontrunner with 78,986 property registrations in women's names, collecting Rs 9,800 crore in total fees. The state capital was followed by Ghaziabad with 68,982 registrations generating Rs 12,354 crore. A senior official of the Stamp and Registration department said, "Before the rebate in 2006, not more than 10-15% of the properties were purchased and registered in favour of women."...