Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually launched the 'Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited' on Tuesday, a transformative initiative aimed at providing affordable financial support to women associated with self-help groups (SHGs) in Bihar. During the event, held in Delhi, the Prime Minister transferred Rs 105 crore to the cooperative’s bank account, marking a significant step toward empowering rural women entrepreneurs.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and other senior state officials, participated in the launch via video conference from Patna. The cooperative is designed to foster entrepreneurship by ensuring women in SHGs have access to funds at lower interest rates, addressing the challenges posed by high-cost loans from microfinance institutions (MFIs).
The official statement highlighted that the cooperative will enable all registered cluster-level federations of Jeevika to become members, with both the Bihar government and the central government contributing funds to support its operations. Over the years, Jeevika’s SHGs have driven the growth of small enterprises and producer companies in rural Bihar. However, women entrepreneurs often faced high interest rates of 18–24% from MFIs.
The Jeevika Nidhi cooperative aims to reduce this dependency by offering larger loans at affordable rates through a fully digital platform, ensuring transparency and swift fund transfers directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
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To support this digital transformation, 12,000 community cadres will be equipped with tablets to streamline operations. The initiative is poised to bolster community-led enterprises and accelerate entrepreneurship development among rural women. Approximately 20 lakh women from across Bihar virtually attended the launch, underscoring the widespread impact of this initiative.
Prime Minister Modi emphasized that the cooperative aligns with the NDA government’s commitment to women’s empowerment in Bihar, heralding a new era of economic independence for rural women.
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