Patna: The rural development department is set to launch ‘Samriddh Mahila-Samriddh Bihar’, a campaign to make one crore women associated with Jeevika self-help groups (SHGs) Lakhpati Didis over the next five years.Rural development minister Shravan Kumar said nearly 50 lakh women in Bihar have already become Lakhpati Didis, placing the state first nationally.He said the new campaign aims to scale up the achievement by building a strong value chain from the gram panchayat to the state level and moving towards an inclusive, green economic development model involving women, youth and persons with disabilities.According to the official communique issued on Friday, the proposed roadmap includes financial assistance of up to Rs 5 lakh for 10 lakh women entrepreneurs through banks and financial institutions. Another 60 lakh women will be supported to establish micro-enterprises in animal husbandry and allied sectors.The department has also proposed setting up 25 lakh women-focused manufacturing and micro-enterprises to increase women’s participation in industrial and manufacturing activities. It will facilitate linkages with buyers and importers to expand markets for products made by these enterprises. In addition, the plan proposes 15 lakh employment and self-employment opportunities in service and skill-based sectors.The department plans to develop entrepreneurship infrastructure from gram panchayat to state level and create an integrated value chain covering production, processing, branding, marketing and exports, while also including youth and persons with disabilities.Jeevika, which began in 2006 with SHGs in six blocks, now has 1.81 crore families associated with it. The state has formed 73,517 village organisations and 1,686 cluster-level federations. SHGs have received Rs 75,000 crore in loans so far, while 11.10 lakh savings bank accounts have been opened.
