Mohammad Aijaz Asad
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked a defining civilisational moment by shifting his office from South Block to Seva Teerth, among the very first files he signed was one doubling the national target of Lakhpati Didis to 6.0 crores. In that quiet yet powerful administrative act lay a profound message i.e India’s growth story will be anchored not merely in infrastructure, but in the economic awakening of its women.
For Jammu & Kashmir, this national resolve carries measurable resonance. The Union Territory has already transformed 2.0 lakh Self-Help Group members into Lakhpati Didis and this figure is poised to reach 2.33 lakh by June 2026 which in itself is a testament to institutional commitment and community-driven enterprise.
Moments of transition in governance often mark more than policy shifts-they signal deeper historical and philosophical turning points. The relocation of the Prime Minister’s Office from South Block; after nearly eight decades; now destined to become part of the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum meaning a Seva Teerth, on the 95th anniversary of New Delhi’s formal inauguration (13 February 1931) was far more than an administrative shift. It symbolised a conscious crossing from legacy to living purpose. The very name Seva Teerth draws from Sanskrit where Seva signifying selfless service and Teerth denoting a sacred crossing point that enables transcendence over obstacles. This emphasizes the governance as a moral duty rooted in service and transformation. The first decisions in this renewed institutional space included the launch of the PM RAHAT Scheme, ensuring assured hospitalization and immediate treatment for road accident victims and the expansion of the Lakhpati Didi target which conveyed a clear hierarchy of priorities i.e. to safeguard life and to secure livelihood. It affirmed that the strength of a republic lies not merely in edifices of power, but in empowering its most steadfast contributors mainly women whose labour sustains households, whose enterprise fortifies rural economies and whose aspirations quietly shape the nation’s future. Development, in this vision, is neither symbolic nor paternal rather it is dignity translated into opportunity and service transformed into structured capability.
Beyond an Income Threshold
A Lakhpati Didi is a Self-Help Group (SHG) member earning over ?1 lakh annually through stable and renewable livelihoods. Yet its significance extends beyond arithmetic. It signals financial discipline, productive credit usage, market engagement and entrepreneurial confidence. Income becomes evidence of capacity.
Anchored in the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana: National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), the initiative builds upon decades of institutional evolution rooted in collective finance and community enterprise. Lakhpati Didi is thus not a standalone scheme, but the matured outcome of a long developmental journey placing women at the centre of rural transformation.
From Mobilisation to Market Power: The Lakhpati Didi Transformation in Jammu & Kashmir
In Jammu & Kashmir, the Lakhpati Didi initiative under the Jammu & Kashmir Rural Livelihoods Mission (UMEED) has evolved into a structured, enterprise-driven movement anchored in skill development, credit access and market integration. What began as the mobilisation of Self-Help Groups has matured into a comprehensive livelihood architecture aimed at stabilising and scaling women-led enterprises across the Union Territory.
Against a target of 2.33 lakh Lakhpati Didis by June 2026, 2,60,343 potential beneficiaries have been identified, with 2,00,952 women (86.24%) already transformed. The sectoral spread mirrors the region’s socio-economic profile-1,29,794 women are engaged in Agriculture & Allied sectors, 40,075 in Non-Farm Enterprises, 19,061 in Wage Employment and 12,022 in Other Activities. Institutional depth is reflected in 66,984 SHGs (out of 94,000) formally linked to the initiative, reinforcing both outreach and sustainability.
Access to affordable finance has been strengthened through the LAL DED Stree Shakti micro-loan scheme, implemented jointly by J&K Bank and JKNRLM. By extending loans ranging from ?50,000 to ?2,00,000 to SHG women entrepreneurs, the scheme enhances timely access to enterprise capital and accelerates the transition of potential Lakhpati Didis into sustainable income earners.
Thus, in Jammu & Kashmir, Lakhpati Didi is no longer merely a target-driven programme; it represents a calibrated shift towards a resilient, credit-enabled and market-linked ecosystem of women-led enterprises driving inclusive rural transformation.
Collective Will, Structured Change
The story of Sushma Devi from Gajansoo Village, Marh Block, illustrates how institutional support can convert skill into scalable rural enterprise. Trained in milk product processing, she mobilised members of her SHG Shradha Nari Shakti to establish the Shradha Cottage Cheese Unit under Kaushal Jammu Milk Producers Co. Limited. With financial support from National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and technical assistance from the Animal Husbandry Department, the unit began producing paneer using locally procured milk. Today, it records a monthly turnover of nearly ?1,00,000, ensuring livelihoods for SHG women and reliable markets for nearby milk vendors. Expanding her vision, Sushma has opened two retail outlets offering paneer, Kalari, curd and allied products-demonstrating how collective effort and institutional convergence can strengthen rural supply chains and build sustainable dairy enterprises.
Equally compelling is the journey of Afroza from Inderkote Village, Nowgam, whose life transformed through the support architecture of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission. After her husband’s shop was destroyed by fire in 2017, she joined SHG Sagar under CLF Ujala and secured an initial ?50,000 loan to purchase her first cow. With subsequent bank linkage of ?2 lakh, she expanded into a dairy farm employing local youth and later availed a ?10 lakh loan to establish The Kashmir Velvet BMC Unit, producing milk, curd and paneer. Today, her enterprise generates an annual turnover of ?3-5 lakh, supports multiple livelihoods and provides stable procurement channels for local milk vendors. Beyond economic revival, Afroza’s journey reflects how targeted credit, institutional trust and collective solidarity can transform crisis into community leadership.
Beyond Income: Dismantling Feudal Barriers
The making of Lakhpati Didis is not merely an exercise in economic empowerment; it is the restructuring of rural aspiration itself. It signifies a shift from subsistence to surplus, from dependency to decision-making and from silent participation to visible leadership. When a woman crosses the threshold of sustainable income, she does not transform alone-households stabilise, children’s futures brighten, local markets expand and community confidence deepens.
More profoundly, this transformation challenges the residues of feudal-age gender inequality that confined women to invisible labour and economic dependence. By institutionalising access to credit, markets, skills and collective platforms, the Lakhpati Didi movement dismantles hierarchies that once restricted property, income control and public voice to men alone. Financial agency becomes social authority; enterprise becomes emancipation. In this sense, the initiative does not merely create lakhpatis-it rewrites entrenched power equations, replacing inherited inequality with earned dignity and participatory leadership. It is the creation of a new rural archetype: the woman as entrepreneur, employer and architect of grassroots prosperity.
From Enterprise to Eminence: J&K’s Rise of Millionaire Didis
When Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited Jammu & Kashmir to review the Rural Development Department, he unveiled the vision document “Har Didi, Ek Kahani”, highlighting Self-Help Group members whose annual incomes have crossed ?10 lakhs.
Already, 55 Didis have achieved this milestone, with many more progressing steadily. What began as the creation of Lakhpati Didis is now evolving into a movement toward Millionaire Didis: those women who have transitioned from income stability to enterprise scale and sustained growth. This shift is not merely financial; it reflects structural transformation comprising of stronger bank linkages, advanced business skills, intensive handholding and expanded market access through the SHG federation architecture under JKRLM. Early successes confirm the model’s strength; the next phase is to scale these gains across the Union Territory.
Jammu & Kashmir’s journey toward Millionaire Didis thus represents a higher arc of empowerment, where capability matures into capital and collective solidarity culminates in entrepreneurial leadership.
The Road Ahead
The experience of Jammu & Kashmir underscores a fundamental lesson: sustainability must outweigh milestones. While numerical achievements are important, the true durability of outcomes will depend upon deeper market integration, cluster-based scaling of enterprises, and sustained convergence across departments. Equally critical is continued institutional accompaniment-ensuring that support does not cease once income thresholds are crossed but evolves to consolidate and expand gains. In Jammu & Kashmir, Lakhpati Didi signifies a quiet yet profound shift-from welfare to capability, from assistance to agency. It formalises women’s labour, stabilises rural household economies and anchors dignity within development practice. From a symbolic resolve at Seva Teerth to thriving enterprises across village clusters, the journey of the Lakhpati Didi is not merely about incomes surpassing a lakh; it is about confidence crossing a defining threshold and rural women stepping into enduring economic leadership.
(The writer is an IAS officer of 2012 Batch and is presently posted as Secretary Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, J & K Government.)
The post Lakhpati Didi: From Milestone to Movement appeared first on Daily Excelsior.