Kendrapada: Union minister of state for rural development, Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday that 5,37,350 women in Odisha have benefited from the lakhpati initiative under the Deendayal Antodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
Responding to a question from Congress MP Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, the minister explained that DAY-NRLM, a centrally sponsored scheme, operates nationwide except in Delhi and Chandigarh. The initiative aims to alleviate rural poverty by organising women into self-help groups (SHG)s and supporting them to achieve sustainable income growth.
The ‘Lakhpati Didi’ initiative, a key component of DAY-NRLM, helps SHG members earn a minimum annual income of Rs 1 lakh through various sustainable measures. Nationwide, the scheme has mobilized 10.05 crore women into 90.87 lakh SHGs as of Oct this year.
The minister also highlighted the NAMO Drone Didi Scheme, implemented by the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare, which plans to distribute drones to 15,000 SHG members between 2023 and 2026. In the current fiscal, fertilizer companies have provided 503 drones nationwide, including 12 in Odisha.