More Power To Women Empowerment As Odisha Cabinet Clears Allocation Of Rs.4,973.39 Cr For Mission Shakti

Bhubaneswar: The Mission Shakti scheme of Government of Odisha which has been transformed into a women empowerment movement across the state, got a shot in the arm on Wednesday as the State Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved an allocation of Rs.4,973.39 crore for the Mission Shakti Department. The budgetary allocation will span over a period of five years from FY 2022-23 to FY 2026-27. The Cabinet also gave its nod to many important proposals related to the Mission Shakti Department which will pave the way for further strengthening the Self Help Group movement in Odisha. The Cabinet also discussed and approved the Memorandum for appraisal of the scheme that targets many milestones which are to be achieved in the next five years by the Department.

One of the most important proposals of the Department of Mission Shakti that got the approval of the state Cabinet is the SHGs of the state will be provided Rs. 50,000 crore bank credit over the next five years. There is also a provision for interest subvention of more than Rs. 1200 crore in next five years. The government will also set up more than 500 Mission Shakti Bazaars and outlets across the state and give a thrust to sale of SHG products through to e-commerce. Another important aspect or the milestone that is to be achieved in the next five years is the government will train around 40 lakh SHG members under livelihood initiatives and capacity building programs.

In a significant development, the Cabinet has also approved the proposal to construct Mission Shakti Gruhas in every nook and corner of the state. Each district, block, panchayat and urban ward to have Mission Shakti Gruhas/ Bhawans, and government business of more than Rs. 6,600 crore to be provided to Mission Shakti SHGs and their Federation in convergence with different Government departments.

The Major Highlights of the Scheme are:

• Creation of conducive environment for the expansion of self-help movement in rural and urban areas
• Strengthening of SHGs and federations across the state
• Strengthening livelihood initiatives
• Deepening Financial inclusion making sure more SHGs get loans
• Provisioning of infrastructure for SHGs & federations – Mission Shakti Gruha, Block Mission Shakti Bhawan, District Mission Shakti Bhawan,
• Marketing support – Mission Shakti Bazaars & e-commerce platform.

According to a press note released by the Government, “Dedicated to the accelerated growth in socio-economic empowerment of the women-led self-help groups, this historic decision will further strengthen the Silent Revolution of Mission Shakti across rural and urban areas of the state”.

Briefing the decisions of the Cabinet meeting, Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra said Mission Shakti is synonymous with the empowerment story of lakhs of women across the State of Odisha. Introduced in 2001 as an initiative to form Self Help Groups (SHGs), it has grown organically and developed into one of the most successful women’s empowerment programmes.

In just two decades, Mission Shakti has been able to bring together more than 70 lakh women of more than 6 lakh SHGs. Keeping in view the importance of the Mission Shakti, the Government of Odisha had in 2021, declared it as an independent Department of the Government to bring synergy across all the SHG-centric government initiatives, deepening the engagement of lakhs of women at the grassroots levels and ensuring last-mile delivery of sustainable livelihood opportunities to the women SHGs. A pioneering initiative in Odisha has also been to enable Government departments to source goods and services worth Rs. 5000 crore from SHGs in the next five years.