Ministry of Rural Development organises National Conclave on Women led Entrepreneurship
Deendayal
Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission under Ministry of Rural
Development organised a National Conclave on Women led Entrepreneurship
yesterday in New Delhi. Secretary, Rural Development Shailesh Kumar Singh
presented awards to the Banks. Additional Secretary, Rural Development Charanjit
Singh exchanged MoU with Banks. Joint Secretary, Smriti Sharan and other
officers were also present in the conclave. The conclave was organised to give
a push to women entrepreneurship by engaging Banks for extending loans for
individual women entrepreneurs.
Twenty banks were facilitated for their
outstanding performance in SHG Bank linkage for the financial year 2023-24.
Online integration with Jansamarth portal for SHG was launched during the
conclave. Financial Literacy initiative with the support of Reserve Bank of
India under the Depositors’ Education and Awareness Fund was also commenced
The
Secretary said that women
show high degree of empathy, ownership, commitment, honesty, transparency and
invest substantial time and energy to implement an intervention of their
interest. Banks have a crucial role to play in advancement of women led
enterprises.
Charanjit Singh
advised Banks to make their branch officials aware about the specific products
designed by them, so that the rural women do not face difficulty in getting
finance at the branch level.
Smriti Sharan said
that there is a need to create and
nurture an ecosystem which instils confidence among women to pursue
entrepreneurship. She urged all stakeholders including Banks, Regulator and
other partners present to create a platform for these women entrepreneurs to
address the challenges faced by them.
The conclave witnessed a vibrant panel
discussion on “Pathways from Financial Inclusion to Economic Prosperity-
Vikshit Bharat@2047”. Esteemed panelists from Banks, IIM Kolkata, Fintech,
State Rural Livelihoods Mission and IFMR (a research organisation) deliberated
on ways to conceptualise a framework for creating an enabling ecosystem for
nurturing women led enterprises in the rural areas. Active deliberations were
made on demand side and supply side issues and the possible ways to bridge the
gaps.
DAY NRLM has made
substantial strides in the area of financial inclusion. The conclave emphasised
on the need to make a shift from group lending to individual lending in order
to meet the aspirations of women entrepreneurs and helping them upscale their
enterprises. In order to realise the vision of Prime Minister on creation of 3
crore lakhpati didis, Bank financing has a significant role.
The conclave had participation from Reserve Bank
of India, NABARD, Public Sector Banks, Private Banks, Regional Rural Banks,
State Co-operative Banks, State Rural Livelihood Missions, various
Ministries/Departments of Government of India and CSO partners.