New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) More than 1.15 crore women SHG members have become 'Lakhpati Didis' with annual household incomes of over Rs 1 lakh, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

According to a written reply by Union Minister of State for Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, 1,15,00,274 (1.15 crore) women had become 'Lakhpati Didis' across states.

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Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of Lakhpati Didis with 14,87,631 (14.87 lakh), followed by Bihar with 13,47,649 (13.47 lakh) and West Bengal with 11,81,852 (11.81 lakh) women Self Help Group (SHG) members earning more than Rs 1 lakh per year.

The minister added that, according to an impact evaluation study of DAY-NRLM conducted in 2019-20 by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation with support of the World Bank, there was a 19 per cent increase in income of women enrolled with SHGs over the base amount.

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There was a decline in the share of informal loans by 20 per cent and savings increased by 28 per cent, it found.

Labour force participation also improved, with the proportion of women reporting a secondary occupation being around 4 per cent higher in treatment areas, the minister said.

Access to other schemes also improved and the number of social schemes availed of by treatment households was 6.5 per cent higher.

The Deendayal Antodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is a centrally-sponsored scheme of the Union Ministry of Rural Development.

It is being implemented across the country, except Delhi and Chandigarh, with the aim to alleviate rural poverty by organising the rural poor women into SHGs.

So far, 10.05 crore households have been mobilised into 90.87 lakh SHGs.

The minister said in his reply that a structured approach had been adopted to make SHG members lakhpatis -- earning a minimum income of Rs 1 lakh per year on a sustainable basis.

Talking about the NAMO Drone Didi Scheme of the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, the ministry said it aimed to provide drones to 15,000 SHG members under DAY-NRLM from 2023-24 to 2025-26.

During 2023-24, fertiliser companies, through their own resources, distributed 503 drones to SHG members.

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