Twenty lakh women in Rajasthan have crossed the annual income threshold of one lakh rupees under the Lakhpati Didi scheme — four-fifths of the state government's ambitious target of 25 lakh beneficiaries, the Chief Minister's Office of Rajasthan announced on Saturday, 14 November 2026.

From Self-Help Groups to Six-Figure Earners

The Lakhpati Didi initiative, rooted in the central government's Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), targets women organised into self-help groups (SHGs) and equips them with skill training, market linkages, and micro-enterprise support to generate sustainable annual incomes of at least Rs 1 lakh. The scheme was given national momentum in the 2023 Union Budget, which set a pan-India target of two crore Lakhpati Didis.

Rajasthan's state-level target of 25 lakh women represents one of the more ambitious sub-national commitments under this framework. The CMO's post, attributed to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and tagged with the hashtag #आपणो_अग्रणी_राजस्थान ('Our Pioneering Rajasthan'), signals the Sharma government's intent to use measurable women's economic milestones as a flagship governance marker.

Bhajan Lal Sharma's Bet on Rural Women's Economy

Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, who took office in December 2023 as the BJP's pick for Rajasthan, has positioned women-led rural development as a central plank of his administration. The Lakhpati Didi count — now at 20 lakh — gives his government a concrete, headline-friendly number to defend ahead of future electoral cycles.

The DAY-NRLM architecture that underpins the scheme has been operational since 2011, building community institutions and women's collectives across rural India. Rajasthan's scale-up fits a broader pattern: states competing to show the fastest SHG-to-income-earner conversion rates, with numeric targets functioning as both policy goals and political scorecards.

Five Lakh Women Still in the Pipeline

With 5 lakh women still to reach the Rs 1 lakh income mark before the target is complete, the pace of the final stretch will matter most. Analysts watching the scheme will look for linked budget provisions — skill-training allocations, market-linkage programmes, and credit access for SHG members — to determine whether the last mile is funded or merely aspirational.

Rural women in Rajasthan's semi-arid districts, where wage labour is seasonal and migration is common, stand to gain the most if the income guarantee holds. Whether the state can close the gap and deliver all 25 lakh Lakhpati Didis will be the real test of the programme's depth beyond its headline numbers.

Twenty lakh women earning independently is a data point. Twenty-five lakh is a promise — and Rajasthan has put it in writing.