On International Women’s Day, a traders’ body will host a “Virat Lakhpati Didi Women Entrepreneur Summit” on March 8 in the national Capital. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) plans to invite nearly 25,000 Lakhpati Didis from across the country to the summit, jointly organised with the Association of Direct Selling Entities of India (ADSEI) and the Federation of Direct Selling Association (FDSA) at the Indira Gandhi stadium.
CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said the summit aims to recognise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and initiatives like self-reliant India, women empowerment, digital India, skill India, startup India, and Make in India, which have significantly boosted entrepreneurship and self-reliance in India.
The direct selling sector, with an annual turnover of nearly 50,000 crore and involving over 1.25 crore individuals, including around 50 lakh women, has provided not only self-employment opportunities but also indirect benefits and employment to millions.
Government data reveals that big States like Uttar Pradesh have 6.68 lakh Lakhpati Didis, followed by 4.94 lakh in Gujarat, 2.64 lakh in Tamil Nadu, and 2.31 lakh in Kerala. In Madhya Pradesh, the number is 9.54 lakh, 8.99 lakh in Maharashtra, and 2.02 lakh in Rajasthan. Additionally, Ladakh has 51,723 Lakhpati Didis, while J&K has 29,070 women in this category.
In the northeast, Assam leads with 4.65 lakh women, followed by Meghalaya (33,856), Mizoram (16,087), Manipur (12,499), and Nagaland (10,494). Ministry data indicates that around Rs 6.96 lakh crore of bank credit has been accessed by SHGs since 2013-14, with NPAs of SHGs decreasing from 9.58 per cent in 2014 to 1.8 per cent.
Khandelwal also mentioned that Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP national President JP Nadda, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman have been invited to address the Lakhpati Didi summit.
It is expected to showcase the profound impact of Modi’s initiatives in economically empowering women and implementing nationwide campaigns to skill and empower women across all States in the country.
The Lakhpati Didi scheme was rolled out after Modi, in his Independence Day speech last year, expressed his dream to make 2 crore Lakhpati Didis in the country’s villages.
In the Budget speech, the Government enhanced the target to 3 crore. The target is a 3-year timeline under the scheme, which is being executed under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihood Mission. It involves assisting women with training, enterprise financing, bank and credit linkages so that they can earn a sustainable annual income of Rs 1 lakh per annum in both the farm and non-farm sectors.
Sanjeev Kumar, the chairman of ADSEI, said at this Lakhpati Didi summit, women entrepreneurs engaged in direct selling businesses who have achieved new heights of success through their skills will be honoured.
Rajiv Gupta, Secretary of FDSA, said companies involved in direct selling businesses will provide financial and skill development training to women under the Lakhpati Didi scheme. This initiative aims to make women financially independent and not only run their own enterprises but also provide employment opportunities to a large number of people.
