Namaste (Greetings).

You,my mothers and sisters from remote villages have turned up in such a huge number to bless me today. Can there be anyone who afterhaving such good luck does not  getenergy and courage to work ?

It is you whose love and affection always give me new strength to do something for the country. You are the ones who are rich in promises and dedicated to entrepreneurship. You know how to work as a team, how to make a collective effort. I believe, even the top universities of the world have no idea of how my poor mothers and sisters of India most of whomhave had no chance to study, but know what team spirit is and how to distribute a job and work together.

When we talk about women empowerment the most important thing is that women should get a recognition of their strengths, abilities and skills. There is no need to teach a woman anything. They have so many things in themselves but they don’t get the opportunity. The day our mothers and sisters get the opportunity, they will do wonders, they will overcome all  obstacles. And look at the women power, there is nothing that they don’t handle, and how perfect their time management is since morning till night a woman continues to work whatever she can to bring about the change in her family’s life, in the life of village and society. The women of our country are capable, they have the power to do anything, they have the courage for struggle. And whenever they have become economically more empowered and I believe the biggest thing in women empowerment is that she should be financially self reliant.The day a woman becomes financially self reliant she becomes confident, she can guides her children to do or not to do certain things; she can also tell her husband to please do this or not to do that and that is why financial independence of women leads to increasing their participation in decision making.

Any increase in the financial powers of women also has an impact on the social evils. When women become economically empowered then they who sometimes have to toleratesocial evils in spite of themselves, become prepared to fight those social evils. Today, if you look at any sector you will find that women have been working in those sectors in large numbers. Can anyone imagine our animal husbandry sector without our mothers and sisters? Can anyone imagine that our farming sector can work without the contribution of our mothers and sisters? Very few people know about this thing, but if they go to villages and observe these things then they will come to know what a big role is being played by our mothers and sisters in farming.

In a way, animal husbandry is 100 per cent dependent on women. Today whatever milk is produced in our country, I believe  our mothers and sisters have 100 per cent contribution in that. Animal husbandry requires hard work and our mothers and sisters, particularly those living in rural areas with the encouragement from self help groups have been collectively meeting our several requirements. The scope of these efforts should be expanded and their benefits extended to the maximum number of people.

          The Government of India’s DeenDayalAntyodayYojana - national rural livelihood mission is putting in a lot of effort to implement it throughself help groups of workers, of small entrepreneurs, of youth. I have seen a totally uneducated women but they understand what the word,self help group means and they even can pronounce it in English. That word has become so popular that if I use Hindi term for it then she wonders what I am trying to say because that word has become so popular.

In a way our self help groups have become the basis for economic progress of women, particularly for the poor women. These groups are making the women aware and also these groups are empowering them economically and socially. DeenDayalAntyodayYojana, under the National Rural Livelihood Mission they have made the effort to reach out to crores and crores of poor rural families in 2.5 lakh villages; they have made a successful effort. A goal to provide them stable livelihood has been set. This scheme has been started in all the villages. And I would like to praise all the states and their officers those who have reached out to lakhs and crores of women and improved their lives.

And I would like to appeal to our officers those who work at district level that this kind of things that are done at the district level, their emotional stories, they should write one or two books on the issue. It should not be like a government document and you will find that those officers and also their family members will feel happy that such a good work is done.

You would be surprised to know that so far 45 lakh self help groups of women have been formed and more than 5 crore women are actively involved with them. In a way, one more member of these families have become earning which has created one more source of income for the family. I would like to share some more data with you people. If you look at the progress made during 2011-14, before the formation of our government, only 5 lakh self help groups were formed and only 50-52 lakh families were linked to those self help groups. Priority was given to this thing between 2014 to 2018 after formation of our government and this was considered important. And in the last four years more than 20 lakh new self help groups have been formed and more than 2.25 crore families have been linked with them. 

It means that the number of self help groups have been increased by four times and four times more families have been benefitted from them. It shows this government’s speed of doing work and how committed we are for public welfare, it shows what kind of commitment we have for the empowerment of our mothers. Under this scheme, every kind of assistance is provided to the groups of poor women from training to funding and from marketing to skill development.

And as I have told earlier that today we have the members of self help groups from different regions of the country with us. Once again I am extremely eager to listen to all those mothers and sisters who have been participating in the economic progress of the country.  Who have been contributing in economic activities of their families. And those who have been doing the work in the least possible expenses through novel methods even if they may or may not have formal education yet they have been doing it successfully.

Look! What a huge change has occured to the lives of all these people ! We have seen the live example of this thing that such an important role is being played by self help groups. The network of self help group has been extended across the country. It has been linked to different sectors and different trades. The government also provides them necessary training, economic assistance and opportunities for their progress.

With the help of self help groups, an experiment is being conducted for women farmers and for the agriculture sector. A women farmer empowerment scheme was launched under which training has been imparted to more than 33 lakh women farmers. In addition to this, more than 25,000 community livelihood resource persons were also selected who have been providing 24x7 support at rural level. Today, it may be any sector, particularly sectors related to agriculture, value addition, addition in the price has become very important. And I am happy that today the farmers of the country have understood the importance of value addition. They are adopting it and they are reaping its benefits. In some states this value chain approach has been adopted for some particular crops like in the farming of corn and mangoes, in horticulture and dairy sectors etc. More than two lakh members of self help groups received support for this thing.

We just heard Amrita Devi Ji from Patliputra, Bihar and got to know how the lives of the families of poor women have changed there. I would like to share some more examples from Bihar. More than 2.5 lakh members of self help groups have been doing rice farming in a better manner by receiving more training. Similarly, more than two lakh members are producing vegetables through new methods.  In addition to this, clusters have been established in Bihar for producing bangles of Lac (sealing wax) and a producer’s group has also been established. It is a matter of pride that the bangles of Bihar are famous in our country and abroad for their design. And MeenaManjhi from Chhattisgarh said a short while ago how brick making helped her to improve her living conditions. Several units have been established there for brick manufacturing. Nearly 2,000 self help groups have been associated with it. It will be a happy surprise for all of us to know that their annual profit has reached into crores of rupees. Similarly, Bihan Bazars have been established in 22 districts of Chhattisgarh where the products of 200 varieties manufactured by self help groups have been sold.

I would like to share one personal experience related to Chhattisgarh. Perhaps, you have seen it on TV that a few days ago I had visited Chhattisgarh and there I got the opportunity to ride  an e-rickshaw. That e-rickshaw was driven by a woman. That area of Chhattisgarh was earlier affected with the naxalviolence. There were no means of transportation there. However, the government tried to solve this problem and it is the result of this effort that several e-rickshaws are now being operated there. There are several remote places in the country’s rural areas where there is no mode of transportation. Under this scheme, funds were made available to rural people in these areas for purchase of vehicles. It not only made the transportation easier but it also turned out to be a very good source of income for the rural families.

See, we just heard a lot of things from Revati and also heard VandnaJi that how they received help from skill training under this scheme. They are the example of what kind of change can be brought through training.

Special attention is being paid to skill development among rural youths under DeenDayalAntyodaya scheme. Training has been provided to youth, both for employment and self-employment, so that the youth of the county can progress as per their hopes and aspirations. And it is bringing about positive changes in the lives of people. A rural self-employment training centre has been established in every district of the country so that youth could receive training close to their homes. In these centres, training is being imparted to rural youth to start economic activities. By May this year, nearly 600 rural self-employment training institutes have been working in the country. Training has been imparted to nearly 28 lakh youths through these centres. And employment has been arranged for nearly 19-20 lakh youths.

We just heard SudhaBaghelJi from Madhya Pradesh, who has been engaged in the packaging of sanitary napkins. Sanitary pad manufacturing units have been established in 35 districts of Madhya Pradesh and more than 5,500 members of self help groups have been engaged in this work.

I would like to share one more example from Madhya Pradesh. Nearly 500 Aajeevika fresh stores have been opened in the state and every year more than one tonnes of spices are being sold from these stores. In a way, Aajeevika has become a brand there. We just spoke to RekhaJi and got to know that how an experiment is being conducted in the banking sector through self help groups.

Members of self help groups have been appointed as Bank Mitra and Bank Sakhi in order to provide banking and financial services in rural or remote areas. Today, nearly 2,000 self help groups have been working as Bank Mitra or Bank Sakhi throughout the country. I have been told that transactions worth Rs. 350 crore have taken place through them.

Look! How the work is being done as a community resource person? You people are aware that several women have already been associated with this thing from a long time. They themselves do this thing and also motivate other women by visiting new villages as community resource persons. This programme has been taken forward in the entire country through 2 lakh community resource persons and this number is going up every day.

Under DeenDayalUpadhyaYojana, there is a provision for arranging bank loans in addition to government grants. Bank loans help people a lot to expand their business. Moreover, one more thing that all of you would be happy to know that repayment of loan is being done in a timely manner.

And I have seenthat the repayment of loans disbursed through self help groups to bank never got delayed. Nearly 99% loan has been repaid. These are the values of our poor families. This is the strength of the richness of our poor people.

We just heard it from Lakshmi Ji that how she and 30 other women with her have been making profits in the sale of Papads.  I would like to inform you today that special attention is being paid to this thing that the products produced by self help groups get the right price.

And the Government of India provides grant for organising two Saras fairs a year in every state to provide right kind of markets for these products. And it is giving providing positive results. The demand for products produced by self help groups is going up every year which is also leading to rise in their incomes. In addition to this, self help groups are getting benefits through GEM government e-market. In order to increase transparency, the government will encourage procurement through digital methods to encourage transparency. Now the government tenders are awarded through this process and public procurement is being done through this method.

I would urge all my sisters of self help groups to register all thier products in the government portal so that when the government requires something it should know that these things are available with you. Look! If you raise sheep and produce wool then I would like to give you an advice. I have conducted an small experiment when I was there in Gujarat. And the experiment was that I gave a trimmer to the people who raise sheep and goats. The barbers use trimmer machine for trimming beards. I gifted a trimmer machine to a sheep raiser and told him to use it for cutting the hairs of goats and sheep instead of scissors. I asked them to use trimmer machine so that they will get long strands of the hair of sheep and goats which is not possible if they use scissors.

You would be surprised to know the use of trimmer resulted in the reduction of their labour as well as the pain caused to sheep. Since the strands of wool were longer they then started getting good price in market. If you arrange this training for the sisters in your group then you people have a lot of work related to warm and woolen clothes. You will have long strands and can have a lot of income. You must think in this direction. I have earlier seen this in Kupwada and this is a good business idea as you can earn by selling the milk from the animals.

      I understand your stories and your experiences. And whoever listens to them, listens to them with an open mind, and listens them with a positive mind then I do believe that every single story is extremely motivating. That how much power these mothers and sisters of our country have? And how they can create their own world if they get just a little support? That they can work together and how they can provide leadership and how they have been working hard to lay the foundation for a New India.

These stories provide every woman a way and enthusiasm for doing something new. And there is no dearth of people spreading despair. There is no dearth of people spreading evil. But please don’t give up the path of honesty. We don’t have to stop worshipping those who work hard. We have to take the country forward on our own strength, and make progress on our own, and to take forward our families, and to provide education to our children, and to lead the life after overcoming difficulties, all these things in themselves provide strength to everybody to struggle against despair and this is the strength of the country.

And that is why I felt good after listening to you people and I also got energy from it and I got inspiration. And I believe that the issues that you people have discussed today in this programme; and I believe that there are so many of you want to say something; everyone has a story; everyone has an experience; everyone has found a way for coming out of difficulties. And it is your own achievement. It is your hard work and courage. And the credit for these things belongs only to you people and to no one else. And that is why there cannot be a greater inspiration other than you people.

However, those sisters who have to tell a lot but could not get the opportunity and I would like you to convey your thoughts to me. I would also share these things in my programme – Mann Ki Baat because the country receives inspiration from such examples.

Those people who quarrel will continue to do so. But the people who work will get  inspiration. And now we will move forward with that work. So I urge to you , if you have become familiar with using mobile phone, and if you are not familiar with mobile phones then you would have seen a common service centre in your area. You would have seen Narendra Modi App, you please visit the centre and provide the photo of your self help group. You please record an interview with the sisters of your self help groups in it that App that how you people achieved the success; how did you overcome difficulties and the good things done by you people. You feed all these things into the App. I will go through it, I will read it and listen it. And if you feed those things in the App then other people will also see it. And I would also share some of those things with the world in my programme Mann Ki Baat whenever I get time.

You have achieved it for yourself but you have also provided courage to crores and crores of sisters like you. Now the common service centres have become very popular. Nearly three lakh common service centres are there in the country. Now our daughters are running common service centres. You must send your success stories by visiting thesecentres. The whole country and whole world would see it. People will see how our sisters living in remote and far-flung villages have been doing excellent work.  I feel great that today I got the opportunity to meet you people. You people turned up in such a large number to bless me. I convey my best wishes to you.  Many-many congratulations to you.

Thank you very much.

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AKT/SH/DG/KT/AK