Jammu and Kashmir is quietly scripting a powerful narrative of women-led rural transformation. At the heart of this change lies the robust implementation of the Rural Livelihoods Mission which has so far mobilized over 7.5 lakh rural households into 94,000 Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo expressed the government’s seriousness in turning this mobilization into a sustained economic movement. Govt’s focus on enhancing credit linkages, capacity building, and institutional convergence is indeed a roadmap for lasting empowerment. Government’s target of 75,000 SHG credit linkages, up from the current base with a gap of 16,000, is ambitious. Financial access remains the bedrock of entrepreneurship, and bridging this gap could be transformative.
The suggestion to register Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) under the Cooperative Societies Act is equally significant. A legally recognized structure will not only bring credibility but also enable access to institutional finance and schemes. J&K’s outstanding national performance in key NRLM parameters—1st in CLF profiling, 2nd in Village Organization profiling, and 4th in SHG profile capturing—is testimony to the UT’s commitment to grassroots transformation. The remarkable success of the Lakhpati Didi initiative, with 1.84 lakh women achieving the status in just six months, further strengthens this momentum.
But empowerment must not stop at training and credit. The Chief Secretary’s call for deploying SHG women as Banking Correspondents, Krishi Sakhis, Pashu Sakhis, and Van Sakhis taps into a model where service delivery and livelihood creation go hand in hand. Similarly, the establishment of Community Managed Training Centres (CMTCs) in all 20 districts will help scale capacity building across the board.
With schemes like MKSP and SVEP achieving and even exceeding targets, the state machinery must now ensure the long-term viability of these efforts through market linkages, handholding, and policy continuity. Jammu and Kashmir has often been viewed through the lens of conflict, but the real story emerging today is that of resilience and rural renewal led by its women. These women are not waiting for opportunity—they are building it with every stitch, harvest, and transaction. The onus now lies with financial institutions, panchayats, and line departments to walk with them. This is no longer a welfare program—it is a revolution in the making. And its torchbearers are the rural women of Jammu and Kashmir.