• More than 1.48 crore rural women have been empowered under ‘Lakhpati Didi’ initiative, Minister of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said in a reply in Lok Sabha on July 22.

• Maharashtra is the top performer, with 22.69 lakh women from self-help group (SHG) households, followed by Andhra Pradesh (17.41 lakh) and Bihar (14.47 lakh).

Lakhpati Didi scheme

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scheme, which aims to encourage women to start micro-enterprises, in his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2023.

• The programme is aimed at training women in self-help groups (SHGs) so that they can earn a sustainable income of at least Rs 1 lakh per annum per household.

• The Ministry of Rural Development is adopting a whole-of-government approach for maximum impact through convergence to transform the rural economy with the enabling of ‘Lakhpati Didis’. 

• To give impetus to economic empowerment of women, the Lakhpati Didi scheme has been initiated under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), wherein each SHG household is encouraged to take up multiple livelihood activities coupled with value chain interventions, resulting in a sustainable income of Rs 1 lakh or more per year.

• So far, over 10.05 crore rural households across India have been organised into nearly 90.9 lakh SHGs, providing the structural backbone for economic empowerment.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM)

• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) is a flagship poverty alleviation programme launched in June 2011.

• Its aim is to reduce poverty by enabling poor households to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities, resulting in sustainable and diversified livelihood options for the poor. 

• It is being implemented across the country (except Delhi & Chandigarh) with the objective of organising the rural poor households into self-help groups (SHGs) and continuously nurturing and supporting them till they attain appreciable increase in income over a period of time and improve their quality of life and come out of abject poverty.

• This is one of the world’s largest initiatives to improve the livelihoods of the poor.

• The Mission seeks to achieve its objective through investing in four core components.

They are:

i) Social mobilisation and promotion and strengthening of self-managed and financially sustainable community institution so the rural poor women.

ii) Financial inclusion.

iii) Sustainable livelihoods.

iv) Social inclusion, social development, and access to entitlements through convergence.

• The programme leverages community resources (social capital) to build institutions and promote livelihoods, with trained SHG members serving as Community Resource Persons (CRPs) in various roles like Pashu Sakhi, Krishi Sakhi, Bank Sakhi, Bima Sakhi, Community Resource Persons-Enterprise Promotion (CRP-EP), Poshan Sakhi, etc.

• The programme has expanded its reach to 7,145 blocks across 745 districts nationwide. 

• So far, the mission has mobilised 10.05 crore rural poor women households, forming them into 90.9 lakh SHGs.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)