Shivraj Singh Chouhan shares President Murmu's call to make SHG women 'Crorepati Didi'
Synopsis
At the National Saras Mela in Vijayawada, President Draupadi Murmu urged Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to raise the income ambition for India's 10 crore SHG women from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore annually — and to rename the scheme 'Crorepati Didi' accordingly.
Key Takeaways
President Draupadi Murmu publicly called on Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to upgrade the 'Lakhpati Didi' initiative to 'Crorepati Didi', raising the annual income target to Rs 1 crore .
Women enrolled in self-help groups across India have grown to over 10 crore (100 million) in approximately 12 years under DAY-NRLM .
The Lakhpati Didi initiative, formalised in 2023–24 , currently targets an annual income of at least Rs 1 lakh per SHG member.
The remarks were made at the National Saras Mela in Vijayawada , a Ministry of Rural Development exhibition for SHG products.
The President's direct address to the minister by name at a public forum amounts to a constitutional-level policy signal for raising rural women's income benchmarks.
Any formal revision of DAY-NRLM income targets or additional budgetary support is now a key item to watch in the next Union Budget .
From Lakhpati Didi to Crorepati Didi — President Draupadi Murmu has set the ambition bar higher, and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan amplified her call on Thursday, October 15, 2026, sharing her remarks from the National Saras Mela in Vijayawada on X.
The post carries a direct address from President Murmu — India's first woman from a tribal community to hold the office — to Minister Chouhan himself: 'मैं शिवराज सिंह जी से कहना चाहती हूँ' ('I want to say to Shivraj Singh ji') — that the goal should no longer stop at making women in self-help groups earn Rs 1 lakh per year. The next milestone, she said, must be Rs 1 crore. The name should change too: not Lakhpati Didi, but Crorepati Didi.
A decade of SHG growth — and why the President says it is not enough
President Murmu's remarks rest on a striking data point embedded in the post: in roughly 12 years, the number of women enrolled in self-help groups has crossed 10 crore (100 million). That expansion traces directly to the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), the central scheme launched in June 2011 and restructured in 2015, which made SHGs the primary vehicle for rural women's financial inclusion and credit linkage.
The Lakhpati Didi initiative — formally articulated in 2023–24 — built on that foundation by setting an annual income floor of Rs 1 lakh for SHG members through skill-based livelihood activities. For millions of women in deep rural India, crossing the lakh threshold was itself a generational leap. The President's call at Vijayawada signals that the government's own ambition has outrun its last headline target.
The National Saras Mela as a policy signal platform
The National Saras Mela is a marketing exhibition organised periodically by the Ministry of Rural Development to provide SHG women a direct retail window for their products. Its choice as the venue for this aspiration is deliberate — the fair is one of the few national platforms where the beneficiaries of rural livelihood policy are both the producers and the audience.
The President did not just applaud. She named the minister, set a specific new income benchmark, and proposed a new brand — a combination that functions as a public policy nudge from the highest constitutional office. Whether that nudge translates into a revised income target under DAY-NRLM or a new budgetary allocation will be the metric to watch in the next Union Budget cycle.
One hundred million women mobilised. One lakh earned. The next target: one crore. The arithmetic of ambition, it turns out, is moving faster than the scheme names can keep up.
Point of View
The government faces pressure to shift the narrative from enrolment to income transformation. For Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has invested significant political capital in the SHG-welfare identity since his Madhya Pradesh years, the President's nudge is both an endorsement and a challenge to demonstrate a next-generation policy leap in the upcoming budget cycle.
NationPress
15 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Lakhpati Didi and Crorepati Didi?
'Lakhpati Didi' is an existing government initiative targeting annual earnings of at least Rs 1 lakh for women in self-help groups. 'Crorepati Didi' is a new aspiration proposed by President Draupadi Murmu at the National Saras Mela in Vijayawada, aimed at raising that income target to Rs 1 crore per year.
How many women are part of self-help groups in India?
According to the post shared by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, over 10 crore (100 million) women are now enrolled in self-help groups in India, a figure reached over approximately 12 years under the DAY-NRLM framework.
What is the National Saras Mela and where was the 2026 edition held?
The National Saras Mela is a periodic marketing exhibition organised by India's Ministry of Rural Development to give self-help group women a platform to sell their products. The 2026 edition referenced in the post was held in Vijayawada .
What is DAY-NRLM and how does it relate to SHGs?
The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is a central government scheme launched in 2011 and restructured in 2015 that treats self-help groups as the primary vehicle for rural women's financial inclusion, credit linkage, and livelihood development.
Why did President Murmu address Shivraj Singh Chouhan directly?
Shivraj Singh Chouhan is India's Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, the ministry that oversees DAY-NRLM and the Lakhpati Didi scheme. President Murmu's direct address to him by name at a public forum was a pointed policy suggestion to raise the SHG income ambition to the crore level.
