Jamtara woman turns poultry entrepreneur under NRLM, earns self-reliance
Synopsis
A former farm labourer in Jharkhand's Jamtara has turned a ₹1 lakh self-help group loan into a 100-bird poultry business under the NRLM. Rekha Besra's case shows how training-plus-credit pipelines are quietly reshaping rural women's incomes — and feeding into the Centre's Lakhpati Didi target.
Key Takeaways
Rekha Besra of Dhanbad village , Jamtara , built a poultry business with a ₹1 lakh bank loan under the NRLM .
She now runs a flock of nearly 100 chickens jointly with husband Lakheshwar Murmu .
The household has moved from daily-wage farm labour to stable self-employment income.
The case feeds into the Centre's Lakhpati Didi initiative targeting women earning over ₹1 lakh annually.
Officials say similar micro-enterprise activity is spreading across Jamtara via self-help groups.
A Jharkhand woman from Jamtara district has scripted a quiet rural turnaround, moving from daily-wage farm labour to running a 100-bird poultry farm with help from the Rashtriya Gramin Aajeevika Mission (NRLM). Rekha Besra, a resident of Dhanbad village in Udalbani Panchayat, says a ₹1 lakh bank loan routed through a women's self-help group transformed her household economy.
From farm labour to poultry owner
Besra previously worked as a farm labourer alongside her husband Lakheshwar Murmu, a wage worker, as the family struggled to meet daily needs. The turning point came when women from a local self-help group introduced her to the Aajeevika Mission and its training-plus-credit model.
“During this time, the women of a self-help group informed me about the Aajeevika Mission. I then joined the group, received training, and took out a loan of Rs 1 lakh from the bank to start a poultry business,” Besra said.
How the business runs today
The couple now jointly operates the unit, with Murmu overseeing farm management and egg sales while Besra manages the flock. According to her, local market demand has been steady, with most of the eggs sold quickly. The added income, she said, has helped fund her children's schooling.
“Now, we are Atmanirbhar... The increased family income has also enabled the children to receive better education and upbringing,” Besra said.
The wider Jamtara pattern
Officials say multiple women in Jamtara are now earning through poultry, goat rearing, and egg production under the same scheme. The mission combines skill training, bank linkages, and market connections — the three components that rural women's livelihoods have historically lacked.
The broader policy framing positions such beneficiaries as future 'Lakhpati Didi' — women earning over ₹1 lakh annually through self-employment, a target the Centre has repeatedly highlighted.
What's next
District officials are reportedly looking to scale up similar micro-enterprise clusters across Jamtara's panchayats, with self-help groups acting as the primary delivery channel. For Besra, the next step is expanding her flock and stabilising supply contracts in the local market.
Point of View
But they need to be read alongside the harder question: how many SHG loans actually convert into sustained micro-enterprises versus one-time disbursements? The NRLM's design — credit plus training plus market linkage — is sound, yet scaling it uniformly across districts like Jamtara remains uneven. The Lakhpati Didi target is politically attractive, but the real metric is income persistence three to five years on, not loan uptake. Without published outcome audits, individual success stories risk doing the narrative work that data should.
NationPress
19 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Rashtriya Gramin Aajeevika Mission (NRLM)?
The NRLM is a Centre-led rural livelihoods programme that organises poor rural women into self-help groups and links them to skill training, bank credit, and markets. Its goal is to enable self-employment and reduce dependence on daily wage labour.
How did Rekha Besra start her poultry business?
Rekha Besra joined a women's self-help group under the Aajeevika Mission, received training, and took a ₹1 lakh bank loan to launch her poultry unit. She now runs a flock of nearly 100 chickens in Dhanbad village, Jamtara.
What is the Lakhpati Didi initiative?
Lakhpati Didi is a Centre-backed push to enable rural women in self-help groups to earn over ₹1 lakh annually through sustainable self-employment. Beneficiaries like Besra are positioned as part of this cohort.
Which other livelihoods are women in Jamtara pursuing under NRLM?
Beyond poultry, women in Jamtara are engaged in goat rearing and egg production under the mission. Self-help groups provide the training, credit, and market connections that anchor these activities.
