🚜 KD-97 | National Campaign on Entrepreneurship for Rural Women under DAY-NRLM: Boosting Non-Farm Livelihoods

Post Date: 19 January 2026
Syllabus: GS2 | Governance, Rural Development

📌 In News

The Ministry of Rural Development has launched a National Campaign on Entrepreneurship to strengthen non-farm livelihoods for rural women under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).

• The campaign aims to:
  • Train 50,000 Community Resource Persons (CRPs) on enterprise promotion
  • Impart Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) training to 50 lakh SHG members

🌾 Why Rural Entrepreneurship Matters

1) Reducing Overdependence on Agriculture

• Agriculture still employs about 45% of India’s workforce but contributes only around 18% to GDP.
• Non-farm rural enterprises help absorb surplus labour and diversify rural incomes.

2) Employment and Income Generation

• MSMEs contribute about 30% of India’s GDP and 45% of exports.
• Promoting rural enterprises expands the MSME base beyond urban centres.

3) Women-Led Development

• SHG-based enterprises improve female labour force participation, which remains around 25%.
• When women control income, it leads to better nutrition, health, and education outcomes.

4) Migration Reduction

• Local enterprises help reduce seasonal and distress migration from rural to urban areas.

🏛️ Government Steps to Foster Rural Entrepreneurship

🔹 Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP)

• Implemented by KVIC
• Provides subsidies up to 35% on project costs (higher in rural areas)
• Supports new micro-enterprises in manufacturing and services
• Targets unemployed youth and artisans
• Loans up to ₹25 lakh

🔹 ASPIRE Scheme

• Launched by the Ministry of MSME
• Funds Livelihood Business Incubators (LBIs) in rural areas
• Provides up to ₹1 crore for:
  • Infrastructure
  • Skill programmes
  • Innovation support
• Aims to nurture agro-rural startups

🔹 Lakhpati Didi Initiative

• Recognises SHG women achieving ₹1 lakh+ annual household income (₹10,000+ monthly)
• Achieved over four seasons/cycles through farm and non-farm activities
• Acts as a motivational and outcome-based benchmark for women-led livelihoods

🔹 NABARD’s Role

• Supports rural non-farm sectors through:
  • Refinancing
  • Infrastructure creation (e.g., rural haats)
  • Capacity-building for SHGs and FPOs
  • Programmes like MEDPs and LEDPs

⚠️ Challenges in Rural Entrepreneurship

• Limited access to credit and markets
• Inadequate skills, training, and mentoring
• Weak infrastructure and logistics
• Low technology adoption
• Market volatility and scale constraints for rural enterprises

📘 About DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – NRLM)

• Launch: 2011 (restructured from Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana – SGSY)
• Renamed as DAY-NRLM in 2016
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Rural Development
• Funding Pattern: Centrally Sponsored Scheme
  • 60:40 (Centre:State)
  • 90:10 for North-Eastern and Himalayan states

🎯 Objective

• Reduce poverty by enabling poor rural households to access sustainable livelihoods and enhanced incomes

🧩 Core Strategy

a) Universal mobilisation of rural poor women into Self-Help Groups (SHGs)
b) Capacity building, access to credit, and livelihood diversification

🔍 Key Focus Areas

a) Farm livelihoods
b) Non-farm livelihoods and enterprises
c) Financial inclusion and social empowerment

🏁 Conclusion

The National Campaign on Entrepreneurship under DAY-NRLM strengthens India’s push toward diversified, women-led, and resilient rural livelihoods. By scaling skills, enterprise promotion, and institutional support, it addresses structural challenges of rural underemployment, migration, and income insecurity while deepening the foundations of inclusive growth.

🪔 IAS Monk Whisper

When a village learns to create, not just cultivate, it stops waiting for opportunity and begins manufacturing dignity.