Kolkata: Aiming to empower girls, the West Bengal government has taken the initiative to set up a Kanyashree University in Nadia district and Kanyashree colleges across the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday. Banerjee had laid the foundation stone of the new university at Krishnagar in Nadia district in January.

The Kanyashree university would be only for women. Banerjee took to Twitter on International Day of the Girl Child to state that her government started the Kanyashree scheme to empower girls, and it has been allocated a budget of Rs 7,000 crore since its launch in 2013. The main objective of the scheme is to ensure that girls study in schools and delay their marriages until the age of 18 years. "Today is International Day of the Girl Child. Our Govt in #Bangla started the #Kanyashree scheme in 2013, which won the @UN (first prize) award in 2017.