National Campaign on Entrepreneurship

On 12th January 2026, the Ministry of Rural Development launched a National Campaign on Entrepreneurship to strengthen rural women-led enterprises and accelerate the government’s Lakhpati Didi initiative.

Key Points:

Objective: To promote women-led rural entrepreneurship and support the creation of sustainable non-farm livelihoods under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
Capacity Building: The campaign aims to train 50,000 Community Resource Persons (CRPs) in enterprise promotion and provide Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) training to 50 lakh women Self Help Group (SHG) members.
Focus on Non-Farm Enterprises: Designed to accelerate non-farm rural enterprise development and strengthen grassroots entrepreneurship capacity.
Building on Existing Models: The initiative builds on successful non-farm livelihood models such as the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme, which has enabled SHG women to establish small enterprises with community support.
Lakhpati Didi Target: The Ministry has committed to creating at least 3 crore Lakhpati Didis- women SHG members earning ₹1 lakh or more annually, by scaling trained enterprise promotion cadres.
Expected Impact: The campaign is expected to deepen enterprise development across rural India, boost local economic growth, improve access to formal finance and credit, and build a more resilient and self-reliant rural non-farm economy.