The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India, through the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), organized a two-day National Consultation on SHE-MARTs (Self Help Entrepreneurs-Marketing Avenues for Rural Transformation) on 14^th-15^th May’2026 at the Mayfair Convention Hall, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The consultation paved the way for operationalization of the Budget Announcement - 2026, hosted by the Odisha Livelihoods Mission (OLM), Mission Shakti Department, Government of Odisha, and facilitated by PRADAN as the National Support Organisation (NSO).

State Mission Directors, CEOs, senior officials from State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs), representatives from NABARD, sector experts, development practitioners, financial institutions, and ecosystem partners converged together deliberated on strategic interventions for strengthening women-led rural enterprises and market systems.

The Consultation aimed to finalize the operational guidelines for the SHE-MART initiative through ground feedback, suggestions, and contextual insights from States and Union Territories. Key themes included institutional architecture, financing models, convergence pathways, monitoring systems, business processes, governance structures, technology integration, and implementation strategies.

The inaugural session was led by Shri T. K. Anil Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India who delivered the keynote inaugural address virtually. In his keynote address, he emphasized that the future of DAY-NRLM lies in enterprise development and market integration. He underlined that SHE-MARTs should emerge as community-owned retail and aggregation systems led by women’s collectives rather than subsidy-driven institutional models.

Ms. Swati Sharma, Joint Secretary, MoRD, highlighted that the National Consultation is intended to function as a working platform where States/UTs could critically examine the draft framework, identify implementation gaps, and propose practical alternatives for large-scale rollout.

Ms. Rohini R Bhajibhakare, Joint Secretary, MoRD also joined the consultation to highlight the key features of VB-GRAM-G.

Dr. Monica Priyadarshini, State Mission Director, Odisha Livelihoods Mission highlighted Odisha’s experience in building decentralized women-led enterprise ecosystems through Mission Shakti and community institutions.

Dr. Molishree, Director, Rural Livelihoods, DAY-NRLM, presented the evolution and strategic vision of the SHE-MART initiative and emphasized the need to move from livelihood promotion to enterprise-led rural market systems.

Ms. Deeksha Supyaal Bisht, Assistant Commissioner, VB-GRAM-G, Government of India, discussed potential convergence opportunities between VB-GRAM-G and SHE-MARTs, particularly around women-centric infrastructure, demand generation, and market support systems.

A major highlight of Day 1 was the national panel discussion on “SHE-MARTs as a Strategic Intervention for Rural Marketing,” The panel brought together diverse perspectives from government, finance, technology, and social enterprise sectors to deliberate on scalable design principles for SHE-MARTs. The Consultation further included extensive subgroup deliberations involving five thematic groups that critically reviewed the draft SHE-MART operational framework through lenses of further detailing, additions, deletions, and aspects to avoid.

Day 2 of the Consultation focused on HR Structure & Women’s Leadership, Technical Design & Implementation Strategy, and Capacity-Building Architecture. Participants emphasized the need for professional retail management systems while preserving women-led governance and community ownership.

Across the two-day Consultation, a strong consensus on making SHE-MARTs as decentralized, women-led, professionally managed, community-owned enterprise ecosystems rather than subsidy-dependent retail outlets emerged.

The Consultation concluded with a shared commitment from States/UTs, DAY-NRLM, and ecosystem partners to strengthen the final operational guidelines for SHE-MARTs and support phased implementation across the country. The Ministry of Rural Development reiterated its commitment to making of 3 crores additional Lakhpati Didis by 2029, and for supporting SRLMs in establishing SHE-MARTs as sustainable rural marketing platforms that enhance income opportunities, enterprise growth, branding, and market access for women-led producer collectives across India.

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