Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a special scheme ‘’Lakhpati Didi” during the Interim Budget 2024. So what exactly are the contours of this scheme and who does it cater to? Well, this was created for the upliftment of rural women. The scheme is considered to be one of the transformative initiatives taken by the government to economically empower women’s status, especially in rural areas.
The Govt targets three crore Lakhpati Didis, higher than the previous objective of empowering 2 crore women. ‘’Eight-three lakh SHGs (Self-Help Group member) along with nine crore women are changing the rural socio-economic outlook with empowerment and self-reliance. The story of SHGs has helped almost one crore women to become Lakhpati Didi already. They are an inspiration for others to follow,’’ said the Finance Minister.
Who is Lakhpati Didi?
A Lakhpati Didi is a Self-Help Group member whose yearly household income is Rs 1 lakh or more and with an average monthly income of Rs 10,000 or more. The annual income is calculated by taking into account a minimum of four agricultural seasons.
Who can avail this scheme?
A Self-Help-Group member who has completed a minimum period of two years and has been a beneficiary of the Community Investment Fund (CIF). The member should also be a participant of the livelihood opportunities program conducted by the government and have implemented the method to gain benefits from the particular practice.
Who will train the Lakhpati Didi?
The Master Trainers will be responsible for training the Lakhpati Didi. The trainers will have at least 5 years of exposure across the sections of agriculture, aquaculture, livestock development, horticulture, business management, and more. An expert who also has experience in conducting workshops for livelihood promotion.
The Making of Lakhpati Didi
The government has planned to enable Lakhpati Didi by focusing on four areas, which are to strengthen and expand the livelihoods of Self-Help Group Members. Providing essential facilities like skills, market, and funding timely. Conducting training sessions for potential women candidates and collaborating with more organizations and experts.
Training to empower women in rural India
Various training and skill-generated courses have been provided to the Lakhpati Didi. Tribal communities are trained in tasar silkworm rearing and lac cultivation. Under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), assigning Community Resource Persons (CRPs) is one of the major action plans by the government for fostering varied programs. CRPs are women-representative from the SHG groups who are given training for implementation programs like social development, making sure individuals have full access to financial products and institution building at large. SHGs are mostly involved in the manufacturing business of bakery items, papads, pickles, sanitary napkins and handloom thread, etc. The women farmers (Mahila Kisans) are guided under the tutelage of well-trained community experts also known as Krishi Sakhis. Safe and affordable community-monitored transport services are also offered for rural people under a sub-scheme Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY). To raise awareness of financial literacy among rural women, self-help group members were made preferred clients of the banking system too.
There is no iota of doubt that the scheme looks very promising but at the same time successful implementation will face several hindrances too. Adequate infrastructure and maintaining a constant flow in the funding scheme will need to be taken care of.