Uttarakhand: CM honored women self-help groups in the Chief Minister’s Strong Behna Utsav Yojana program, more than 1.63 lakh women became ‘Lakhpati Didi’ in the state

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday honored the women self-help groups doing commendable work under the Chief Minister’s Sashakt Bahana Utsav Yojana at the Chief Minister’s residence and also interacted with them. On this occasion, the Chief Minister launched the mascot and logo of the Chief Minister’s Udyamshala Yojana and inaugurated the new product and website of the House of Himalayas.

The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is constantly working for the welfare and empowerment of women. Work has been done towards making women self-reliant through schemes like 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao Abhiyan, Ujjwala Yojana and Lakhpati Didi. When a woman is economically empowered, she works to empower the entire society.

The Chief Minister said that the state government is also continuously working for the welfare of women power. Efforts have been made to ensure maximum participation of women of the state from education and health to entrepreneurship and jobs. Work is being done to make the rural women of the state self-reliant through Rural Livelihood Mission. New opportunities are being provided to the women power through the Sashakt Bahana Utsav Yojana and the Chief Minister’s Women Self Help Group Empowerment Scheme. Under the Chief Minister’s Udyamshala Scheme, incubation facilities will be provided to more than 15 thousand entrepreneurs, self-help groups and Lakhpati Didis in the next three years. Under this, they will be provided business skill training, legal and licensing support, co-working space, investment assistance and a strong network for marketing from local to global level.

The Chief Minister said that under the initiative of Vocal for Local and Local to Global under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister, House of Himalayas umbrella brand has been created in the state to realize the resolution of Lakhpati Didi and to give global recognition to local products. Under this, 35 high-quality products are currently being delivered to the people. Soon the products of House of Himalayas will also be exported to other countries of the world. He said that about 5 lakh women are doing their business organized through 68 thousand self-help groups in the state. Through the Mukhyamantri Sashakt Bahana Utsav Yojana launched in 2023, our sisters have sold products worth more than Rs 7 crore by setting up more than 27 thousand stalls in various events. More than 1 lakh 63 thousand sisters of the state have become lakhpatis. 49 growth centers have been established for processing and marketing of products made by women self-help groups. For effective marketing of these products, 33 nano packaging units, 17 Saras centers, 3 state level marketing centers and 8 bakery units are also being operated in 13 districts. Under the One Station, One Product Scheme of the Central Government, special centers have been set up at Dehradun and Haridwar railway stations for the sale of products of women self-help groups.

Seema Kumari of Almora said that by taking advantage of various schemes of the state government, she has earned an income of Rs 18 lakh in the last 5 years. Daya Danu of Bageshwar said that 400 women are associated with self-employment with her and together they have earned a profit of one crore rupees in a year. Hema Upadhyay of Champawat said that she is working on agro tourism. She is earning an income of Rs 4 lakh every year through poly house and homestay. During Corona, she did reverse migration with her husband. Rekha Negi of Chamoli said that she is getting good income on local products through stalls. Kiran Rana of Dehradun said that she has benefited a lot from mushroom production and 34 women are working with her. Chhabi of Haridwar told that she had taken a loan of Rs 10 lakh for the restaurant, on which she got a subsidy of Rs 6 lakh. Kiran Joshi of Nainital told that she has done a business of Rs 8 lakh in the last 9 months with the silk products made by her.

On this occasion, MLA Khajan Das, Mrs. Savita Kapoor, Secretary Rural Development Mrs. Radhika Jha, Commissioner Rural Development Anuradha Pal, Additional Secretary Jharna Kamthan and officers of Rural Development Department were present.