Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Wednesday, 17 June 2026 announced that the state aims to make one crore women financially self-reliant within the next two years, building on a base of 48 lakh Lakhpati Didis already enrolled under the programme. The declaration, made via a post on X, frames the push as a 'new chapter in women's empowerment' under the Viksit Bihar (Developed Bihar) vision.

Context

In his post, Choudhary wrote: '48 lakh Lakhpati Didiyon ke saath Bihar mein mahila sashaktikaran ka naya adhyay likha ja raha hai' — 'A new chapter of women's empowerment is being written in Bihar with 48 lakh Lakhpati Didis.' He added that the government's goal is to make one crore sisters self-reliant so that every woman can become financially strong and participate in the progress of her family and society. The post was tagged #ViksitBihar, the ruling dispensation's development narrative for the state.

Policy Backdrop

The Lakhpati Didi initiative is a central scheme under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), designed to help women in self-help groups (SHGs) earn at least Rs 1 lakh in annual household income through sustainable livelihood activities. At the national level, the Government of India set a target of three crore Lakhpati Didis when it launched the drive in 2023.

In Bihar, the primary vehicle for this effort is JEEViKA — the state's flagship rural livelihoods mission, operational since 2007 — which mobilises rural women into SHGs and provides them with credit access, skill training, and market linkages. Bihar's programme is among the largest state-level implementations of the NRLM model in the country, covering hundreds of districts and blocks across the state.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are rural women enrolled in Bihar's SHG network, many of whom belong to economically marginalised households. Reaching the one crore milestone would represent a significant expansion from the current 48 lakh figure cited by the Chief Minister, roughly doubling the programme's reach within a two-year window. Families of SHG members and rural local bodies are secondary stakeholders, as higher household incomes tend to improve nutrition, education spending, and community participation.

The announcement also carries political weight ahead of future assembly cycles in Bihar. Women's economic empowerment has become a central plank of the BJP-led government's outreach in the state, and the #ViksitBihar framing ties local targets to the broader national Viksit Bharat 2047 framework, which treats women's economic participation as integral to inclusive growth.

What's Next

Analysts and civil society groups will watch the Bihar Rural Development Department's quarterly progress reports to track whether SHG income levels are rising at the pace required to meet the one-crore target. Any supplementary budget allocations or new convergence schemes announced in the next Bihar Legislative Assembly session will signal how the government intends to resource the ambition. The pace of JEEViKA expansion — in terms of new SHG formations, credit disbursals, and market linkages — will be the clearest operational indicator of whether the two-year timeline is achievable.