Srinagar, April 5 -- More than 28,000 women in Jammu & Kashmir and 2,500 in Ladakh have received assistance under the Government of India's Hub for Empowerment of Women (HEW) scheme in the financial year 2024-25, according to data released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The HEW initiative, part of the broader Mission Shakti program, is aimed at empowering women by providing them with access to legal aid, financial literacy programmes and government welfare schemes.

The numbers indicate a steady increase in the scheme's reach, with J&K assisting 24,574 women in 2023-24 and 17,110 in 2022-23, while Ladakh helped 160 women last year and 799 this year.

Meanwhile, under the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), which...