New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) The Centre is seeking to move women in rural livelihood programmes beyond participation in self-help groups (SHGs) to greater leadership and decision making in economic institutions, Rural Development Secretary Rohit Kansal said at the seventh edition of the Gender Samvaad.
Kansal said the SHGs, which now cover more than 10 crore women, have emerged as a major women-led movement, but the next phase should strengthen their role as producers, entrepreneurs, decision makers and leaders.
The emphasis on greater leadership and agency came at the seventh Gender Samvaad, organised by the Department of Rural Development’s DAY-NRLM and IWWAGE. According to a rural development ministry release issued on Friday, the platform brought together more than six lakh stakeholders.
Kansal said women need stronger access to resources, markets and technology as well as greater ownership of assets to expand their role in rural economic institutions.
He cited initiatives, such as Maharashtra’s Women Farmers’ Empowerment Bill, which recognises women farmers even without formal land titles, the Bhubaneswar Declaration in Odisha focusing on women’s land rights and representation in agricultural institutions and Andhra Pradesh’s RySS natural-farming model driven by women SHGs.
Kansal also highlighted more than 3.46 crore “Lakhpati Didi” earning over Rs 1 lakh annually, saying the achievement has strengthened aspirations among women in rural areas.
Amit Shukla, Joint Secretary, Rural Livelihoods, said gender integration under the DAY-NRLM has evolved from mobilisation towards institutionalising gender as a mainstream concern.
He said the next focus would be on strengthening collective economic institutions, such as cluster-level federations, producer groups, producer enterprises and farmer-producer organisations, including their governance, managerial capacity, financial record-keeping and credit readiness.
Joint Secretary Swati Sharma said the National Campaign on Entrepreneurship-II, being implemented from August 21 to November 21, seeks to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship through enterprise development, value chains, digital platforms and market access.
She said collectivisation through SHGs, federations, producer groups, FPOs, farmer-producer companies and producer enterprises, along with financial inclusion, skills, technology, market linkages and asset ownership, would be important to expanding women’s economic agency.
Sharma called for a whole-of-government approach to strengthen women’s leadership and entrepreneurship.
Other speakers at the event, held on Thursday, included MP Garima Sai Sundaram, who spoke about economic empowerment and bargaining power, MAKAAM’s Seema Kulkarni, who stressed social protection and support systems, and academic Nitya Rao, who highlighted the need for convergence, addressing unpaid care work and improving women’s ownership of resources and access to tools and technology.
The event also featured women leaders, such as Niharika Bhuyan from Assam’s Sonitpur district, who moved from being an SHG member to a leader in a women-led farmer-producer company, and Kirti Tai Deshmukh from Maharashtra’s Akola, who transitioned from being a homemaker to an entrepreneur.
Gender Samvaad was launched in April 2021 as a platform for knowledge exchange and policy dialogue on gender-responsive rural livelihoods. PTI AO RC
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