Lakhpati Didi: On the momentous occasion of the country’s 80th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from the historic Red Fort, has unveiled an ambitious vision for the women of rural India. The government has now set a new goal of empowering 6 crore women nationwide to become Lakhpati Didi. This resolution comes after successfully achieving the previous target of 3 crore. While addressing the nation, the Prime Minister noted that the initial aim to make 3 crore sisters self-sufficient through Self Help Groups (SHGs) was accomplished ahead of schedule. Now, building on this success, the new target has been set at 6 crore.
What is the Lakhpati Didi Scheme?
The Lakhpati Didi Scheme operates under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM). Its main goal is to elevate the annual income of women in rural households to at least Rs 1 lakh or more. This initiative has fortified the backbone of the rural economy.
Daughters are excelling in every domain
During his speech, the Prime Minister also emphasized the growing involvement of women in nation-building. He remarked that today, daughters are not confined to traditional roles; they are at the forefront in various sectors, including flying fighter aircraft, civil aviation, sports, and science and technology (STEM). Women officers entering the Army through the National Defense Academy (NDA) are showcasing their skills and are prepared to lead the security forces.
Tribal women become chip experts
Explaining the impact of women’s empowerment, the Prime Minister shared an inspiring incident from his visit to a semiconductor plant in Sanand, Gujarat. He said he was deeply impressed by the self-confidence of the tribal women working there. Many of these women come from remote villages, previously unaware of even passports. However, they went abroad for training and returned with technical skills. Today, these same women are confidently working in India’s cutting-edge chip manufacturing sector.
Last year, the Prime Minister also announced a scheme for women to fly drones. He announced the goal of creating 20 million Lakhpati Didis in villages. We are considering a new scheme. To strengthen agri-tech, we will train women self-help groups in drone operation and repair. The Government of India will provide them with drones and training. We are initiating drone flights through 15,000 self-help groups. A Lakhpati Didi is a member of a self-help group whose annual family income is 100,000 rupees or more. Under this scheme, 100.5 million rural families have been organized into 9090,000 self-help groups. So far, women from 14,832,258 self-help group families have become Lakhpati Didis.