Shivraj Singh Chouhan Hails SHG Women as 'Millionaire Didis' at Saras Mela
Synopsis
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, at the National Saras Mela in Vijayawada, announced that Lakhpati Didis under DAY-NRLM have scaled beyond the one-lakh income threshold and are now earning enough to be called 'Millionaire Didis', marking a new milestone for India's flagship rural women's livelihood mission.
Key Takeaways
Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan declared at the National Saras Mela, Vijayawada on October 15, 2026 that some SHG women have crossed into 'Millionaire Didi' income status.
The Lakhpati Didi initiative under DAY-NRLM targets rural SHG women earning at least Rs 1 lakh per year through livelihood activities.
A formal target of two crore Lakhpati Didis was set in the Union Budget 2023-24 .
The National Saras Mela is an annual Ministry of Rural Development fair that provides SHG women direct market access to urban consumers.
The 2026 edition of the Saras Mela is being hosted in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh .
Specific data on the number of women who have reached 'Millionaire Didi' income levels is yet to be officially released by the ministry.
They started as Lakhpati Didis — rural women earning over a lakh a year. Now, Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan says some of them have crossed a threshold that warrants an entirely new title: Millionaire Didis. The minister made the announcement on Thursday, October 15, 2026, posting on X from the sidelines of the National Saras Mela in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
Posting in Hindi, Chouhan wrote: 'Hamari Lakhpati Didiyon ne kamaal kar diya hai. Ab Lakhpati Didiyaan keval Lakhpati nahin, Millionaire Didi bhi ho gayi hain.' ('Our Lakhpati Didis have done something remarkable. Now they are not just Lakhpati Didis — they have become Millionaire Didis too.')From SHG savings to a national stage in Vijayawada
The National Saras Mela is the flagship market-linkage event of the Ministry of Rural Development, bringing together women from self-help groups (SHGs) across India to sell their products directly to consumers. The 2026 edition is being hosted in Vijayawada — a commercial hub in Andhra Pradesh — giving SHG entrepreneurs a large urban consumer base for everything from handlooms and handicrafts to processed foods and organic products. For many participants, the mela is not just an exhibition; it is one of the single biggest revenue windows of the year.
The Lakhpati Didi scheme and its expanding ambition
The Lakhpati Didi initiative sits within DAY-NRLM — the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission — the government's flagship rural poverty-alleviation programme built on the SHG model. The target: enable women SHG members to earn at least Rs 1 lakh per year through skill training, credit access, and market linkages. In the Union Budget 2023-24, the government set a formal target of reaching two crore Lakhpati Didis under the scheme.
Chouhan's post signals that a segment of those women has now crossed well beyond the one-lakh floor — into income territory the minister is branding as 'Millionaire Didi' status. The precise number of women who have crossed this higher threshold has not been officially published by the ministry yet.
Why Saras Melas are the proving ground for this ambition
The SHG model's strength has always been in collective action — pooling savings, accessing credit, and sharing market risk. But earnings at scale require buyers, not just producers. That is precisely the gap the Saras Mela network fills: a curated, high-footfall platform where rural women's enterprises compete on quality, not just price. Successive governments have scaled up the mela circuit as a deliberate demand-side complement to the supply-side skilling and credit work done under DAY-NRLM. The result, if the minister's framing holds, is women who have moved from subsistence to enterprise — and from enterprise to what the government now calls millionaire status.
Point of View
Signalling that the SHG income story now has a premium tier worth publicising. It fits a pattern of the BJP using welfare scheme milestones as narrative anchors ahead of state cycles, with rural women's enterprise increasingly positioned as a counterweight to agrarian distress. The Saras Mela platform amplifies this by providing live, televised proof of economic mobility. The ministerial challenge now is translating a vivid label into verifiable data — the ministry's credibility on this depends on publishing the actual count and income-verification methodology for the 'Millionaire Didi' cohort.
NationPress
15 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Lakhpati Didi scheme?
The Lakhpati Didi initiative is part of DAY-NRLM and aims to help women in self-help groups earn at least Rs 1 lakh per year through skill training, micro-credit, and market linkage support. The government set a target of two crore Lakhpati Didis in the Union Budget 2023-24.
What is the National Saras Mela?
The National Saras Mela is a national-level fair organised by India's Ministry of Rural Development where women from self-help groups across the country display and sell their handmade products directly to consumers, providing a major market-linkage opportunity.
Where is the National Saras Mela 2026 being held?
The 2026 edition of the National Saras Mela is being held in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
What does 'Millionaire Didi' mean?
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan used the term 'Millionaire Didi' to describe SHG women under the Lakhpati Didi programme who have crossed beyond the one-lakh annual income threshold into higher income levels. The ministry has not yet released official data on how many women qualify under this category.
