Andhra has 14,87,631 Lakhpati Didis; Punjab 31,700

New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal are the top three large states leading in the creation of Lakhpati Didis at a time when there are a total of 1,15,00,274 such women entrepreneurs across the country, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said in written reply that there are 14,87,631 Lakhpati Didis in Andhra Pradesh, 13,47,649 in Bihar and 11,81,852 in West Bengal.

Madhya Pradesh has 10,51,069 Lakhpati Didis, Maharashtra 10,04,338, Uttar Pradesh 8,41,923, Telangana 7,58,693, Gujarat 5,38,760, Odisha 5,37,350, Jharkhand 3,51,808, Tamil Nadu 3,18,101, Kerala 2,84,616, Rajasthan 2,70, 405 and Karnataka 2,36,315.

The northern states of Punjab and Haryana have a low number of Lakhpati Didis with 31,700 and 62,743, respectively.

Replying to questions from Kota Srinivasa Poojary and Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, the Minister of State said under the Namo Drone Didi Scheme a total of 503 drones have been provided till December 3.

A maximum of 97 drones were given in Andhra Pradesh followed by 84 in Karnataka, 72 in Telangana, 34 in Madhya Pradesh, 32 in Uttar Pradesh, 30 in Maharashtra, 23 in Punjab and 22 in Haryana.

The MoS said under the Deendayal Antodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), a centrally sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Rural Development, 10.05 crore women have been mobilised into 90.87 lakh SHGs till October 2024.

According to an impact evaluation study conducted during 2019-20 by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) with the support of the World Bank, the DAY-NRLM has led to an increase in income by 19 per cent, the MoS said.

The study also indicated a decline in the share of informal loans by 20 per cent and an increase in savings by 28 per cent.

The Ministry commissioned the impact evaluation studies to understand the implications on the financial independence of SHG women through the interventions under the DAY-NRLM.

The DAY-NRLM is a process-driven programme where various benefits like the Revolving Fund, Community Investment Fund and Bank Linkage are extended to the SHGs as per their eligibility and their demands.

DAY-NRLM is being implemented across the country (except Delhi and Chandigarh) with the objective of alleviating rural poverty inter-alia, through organising the rural poor women into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and continuously nurturing and supporting them till they attain appreciable increases in income over a period of time, improve their quality of life and come out of abject poverty, the minister said.

The Lakhpati Didi initiative is one of the outcomes of DAY-NRLM. A structured approach has been adopted to make the Self-Help Group (SHG) members Lakhpati or ensure they earn a minimum income of rupees one lakh per year on a sustainable basis.

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