Ranchi: Under the leadership of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, significant strides have been made in the empowerment and economic self-reliance of rural women in Ranchi.
Since 2019, the credit linkage provided to Self-Help Groups (SHGs) has increased ten-fold compared to the previous nine years. Additionally, the number of SHGs has also risen. Between 2013 and 2019, SHGs received a total of ₹11.14 billion in credit linkage. However, from 2019 to June 30, 2024, this amount surged to ₹101.11 billion. During the same period, the number of SHGs grew from 245,000 to 288,000.
Efforts to link rural families with livelihood opportunities are on. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Mission has integrated 2.6 million families into various livelihood activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, forest produce, egg production, and organic farming.
Under the state-supported Johar project, 3,816 villages across 68 blocks in 17 districts have formed and are operating 3,900 producer groups and 21 producer companies. This initiative has led to an increase in income for approximately 225,000 families. The Women Farmers Empowerment Project has connected 300,000 families with activities related to lac, silk, medicinal plant cultivation, tamarind, agriculture, and animal husbandry.
The state-supported Jharkhand Microdrip Irrigation Project has introduced advanced drip irrigation techniques to 31,861 farmers, with a goal to connect 30,000 women farmers. Additionally, women are being trained in modern techniques. Around 80,000 community cadres, including banking correspondents, livestock assistants, agricultural assistants, forest produce facilitators, and silk production facilitators, have been trained and equipped with modern communication technology to aid in the implementation and expansion of these projects.