Women entrepreneurs: Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM) under the Ministry of Rural Development has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to promote women-led enterprises among members of Self Help Groups (SHGs). According to a statement by the ministry, the partnership focuses on multiple aspects to boost women entrepreneurship.
This included, first enhanced capacity and ability of State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLM) teams to promote the graduation of seasoned SHG members into micro-entrepreneurs; second, establishment of a reliable and sensitive support architecture for women-led enterprises, involving a network of field cadres, mentors, and experts; third, implementation of standardized protocols within DAY-NRLM to support women-led enterprises.
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The MoU will also cater to the formation of partnerships with financial institutions and a network of financiers; design and implementation of new financial schemes, such as credit guarantees and interest subventions; and creation of clear, scalable models for promoting women-led enterprises which can be replicated nationwide.
DAY-NRLM is the flagship initiative of the rural development ministry to cover 7 crore rural poor households, across 600 districts, 6,000 blocks, 2.5 lakh gram panchayats and 6 lakh villages in the country through SHGs and federated institutions and support them for livelihoods collectives in a period of 8-10 years. The scheme enables one member (preferably a woman) from each rural poor household to be brought under the SHG network.
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As of July this year, 19.43 per cent of MSMEs registered on the government’s Udyam portal were owned by women, according to data shared by Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Minister of State in the MSME Ministry in the Parliament. Moreover, under the government’s Stand-Up India scheme, which enables credit for women and SC-ST entrepreneurs, 2.07 lakh loans amounting to Rs 46,737 crore were sanctioned so far since its launch in April 2016.