NEW DELHI, October 8 — The Ministry of Rural Development on Thursday published an independent nationwide evaluation report confirming that over 12.5 million (1.25 crore) women members of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) have achieved sustainable annual household incomes exceeding ₹100,000, formally certifying them as 'Lakhpati Didis'.
Consolidated field survey metrics revealed accelerated progress toward the Centre's targeted goal of empowering 30 million (3 crore) Lakhpati Didis across rural India. Beneficiaries diversified income streams beyond subsistence agriculture into viable micro-enterprises—encompassing high-density dairy farming, certified organic seed production, community-managed custom hiring centers, and precision drone agricultural spraying under the complementary 'Namo Drone Didi' program.
The Rural Development Minister emphasized that institutional credit disbursed under the SHG-Bank Linkage Programme overseen by NABARD has exceeded ₹10 lakh crore cumulative credit flows, maintaining pristine portfolio repayment disciplines with non-performing loans (NPA) remaining below 1.5 percent. The saturation of Banking Correspondent (BC) Sakhis has effectively established decentralized micro-banking points across virtually every Gram Panchayat.
The operational architecture of DAY-NRLM, microfinance convergence models under NABARD, rural women entrepreneurship initiatives, and credit guarantee funds for micro-units represent prominent topics in UPSC Civil Services (GS-II: Social Welfare Schemes and GS-III: Rural Economy). Aspirants should note that the Lakhpati Didi initiative was originally announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 2023 Independence Day address, with the interim budget of 2024 formally scaling the target from 2 crore to 3 crore rural women beneficiaries.