SRINAGAR: More than 52,000 women in Jammu and Kashmir have reported annual incomes of at least Rs one lakh under the Centre’s “Lakhpati Didi” initiative, according to figures tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.
The initiative, implemented under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), aims to enable women members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to earn a sustainable annual income through agriculture, allied activities, or small businesses.
Replying to a starred question in the Lok Sabha, Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said 52,203 SHG women in Jammu and Kashmir had become ‘Lakhpati Didis’, while in Ladakh the figure stood at 51,736. Nationally, 1.48 crore women have achieved this income milestone, with Maharashtra, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh topping the list.
The minister said the initiative is designed to provide individual SHG women with sustained incomes for at least four agricultural seasons or business cycles. It is supported by capacity building, skill training, financial literacy, and market linkages. Community-level structures such as SHGs, Village Organisations and Cluster Level Federations spearhead the implementation.
To strengthen market access, the Ministry has tied up with e-commerce platforms including Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho and Jiomart, alongside launching its own e-SARAS platform for online sale of SHG products. Financial inclusion is being promoted through the deployment of over 1.44 lakh SHG members nationwide as Banking Correspondent Sakhis, enabling rural communities to access banking and digital services locally.
The scheme also includes technology-driven roles such as “Vidyut Sakhi”, “Digi-Pay Sakhi” and “Drone Didi” to expand women’s participation in new service sectors. The government has signed MoUs with public sector banks and IDBI Bank to improve access to credit for SHG women.
Monitoring is carried out through a centralised MIS, quarterly and annual reviews with State Rural Livelihood Missions, and field visits by national-level monitors. In addition, related skill development programmes — the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana and the Rural Self Employment Training Institutes — have trained over 74 lakh rural youth since inception.
