Amethi: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will launch special schemes in nine districts of Uttar Pradesh for women empowerment and their self-reliance, party sources said.

The schemes would be similar to the ones taken up in Congress bastions in Rae Bareily and Amethi, the sources said.

"Rahul Gandhi strongly endorses development at the grass-root level and is of the view that women should be employed.

As a result, there are 15,000 self-help groups which give employment to about 1,80,000 women in Amethi and Rae Bareily," Manager of the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojna, K S Yadav, told PTI.

He added that 250 groups have been given financial assistance of Rs five lakh each while the rest have been provided with an aid of Rs 25,000 each.

"The employed women are engaged in sewing, animal husbandry, education, health, dairy and agriculture," Yadav said.

The nine districts, which have been shortlisted for expansion of the campaign, are Lucknow, Barabanki, Pratapgarh, Unnao, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Shrawasti, Bahraich and Faizabad.

Source : PTI