Patna: CM Nitish Kumar on Monday transferred Rs2,500 crore into the bank accounts of 25 lakh women beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer (DBT) under ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana’ (MMRY) to start businesses of their own choice, at a function held at his official residence, 1 Anne Marg here, officials said.With this, the Nitish-led NDA govt, so far, transferred Rs18,100 crore into the bank accounts of 1.81 crore women beneficiaries at the rate of Rs10,000 to each beneficiary under the scheme.Welcoming the beneficiaries connected through video-conferencing on the occasion, Nitish said, “It’s a matter of great happiness that the amount of Rs10,000 each is being transferred into the bank accounts of 25 lakh women beneficiaries of the MMRY to carry out a business of their own choice. A total of 1.81 crore women beneficiaries have benefited under the scheme.”“A very large number of women started businesses of their own choice with the financial assistance given under the scheme. The govt would give additional financial assistance of up to Rs2 lakh to those women who will successfully carry out their business venture,” he said, adding that the amount (of Rs10,000) will be transferred soon into the accounts of the remaining families under the scheme.Stating that his govt always gave emphasis on “women’s empowerment” from the beginning, the CM expressed hope that the amount of Rs10,000 would be helpful to the women beneficiaries in carrying out their own businesses. It would bring happiness to their families and help the state grow at a faster pace, he added.“I am happy to see the self-confidence among the women. Our govt has been working for the development of everyone. The state govt has been getting support from the Union govt for its all-round development,” Nitish said.The state govt rolled out the Saat Nischay-3 (2025-30) programme to accelerate the pace of growth of the state. Under the first resolve of Saat Nischay-3, titled ‘Double Employment-Double Income’, the state govt set the target of doubling the state’s per capita income, he said.In order to achieve the target, Rs10,000 is being given to each woman beneficiary under the MMRY, Nitish said, adding that out of 1.56 crore beneficiaries of the scheme, 1.44 crore belonged to rural areas, while 12 lakh were in urban areas.Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while launching the scheme on Sept 26 last year, transferred Rs7,500 crore to the bank accounts of 75 lakh women beneficiaries via video-conferencing from New Delhi.The state cabinet, chaired by the CM, on Aug 29, 2025, approved the scheme.Under the scheme, a woman from each family is given the first instalment of Rs10,000 as assistance to start a business of her own choice, creating employment opportunities in the state itself.The scheme envisaged the provision of giving up to Rs2 lakh to the women entrepreneurs who will be successful in their ventures, following the evaluation of the performance of their entrepreneurial enterprise after 6 months. The state cabinet, on Jan 29 last year, gave the nod to begin the process to give additional financial assistance of up to Rs2 lakh to the selected beneficiaries.
