Arunachal Sees 16,000 Women Reach Lakhpati Didi Milestone

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Tuesday, 15 September 2026

Arunachal Pradesh has reached a major milestone in the strengthening of women's economic empowerment, entrepreneurship and rural livelihoods through more than 16,000 women achieving ‘Lakhpati Didi' status in the state. On September 14, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein shared the latest statistics, noting that women's participation in self-help groups (SHGs) and income-generating activities is increasing.

According to the latest data, 15,999 SHGs have mobilised almost one lakh women across the State. Around 36,000 more women have been identified as potential Lakhpati Didis, suggesting there is a huge potential for women entrepreneurship and women livelihoods in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Lakhpati Didi aims to increase the household income for women belonging to SHGs to ₹1 lakh annually on a sustainable basis. It entails diversifying livelihoods, encouraging entrepreneurial skills, promoting skill development, and financial inclusion and access to government schemes, providing opportunities for women to bolster their household incomes and build independent economic pursuits.

Key Highlights

• Over 16,000 Arunachal women have achieved Lakhpati Didi status
• Nearly one lakh women are part of 15,999 SHGs
• Another 36,000 potential Lakhpati Didis have been identified

The initiative is more focused on the access to skills, finance, technology and markets for women entrepreneurs in rural and semi-rural communities. The program aims to empower women to shift from livelihood participation to more resilient livelihood opportunities and businesses through enhancing these spaces.

The rising trend of Lakhpati didi movement was providing scope to women to harness their skills, local resources and entrepreneurial skills to establish sustainable livelihood, Chowna added.

 “Earning by women leads to security for families, resilience for the communities and economic development for the local economy,” Chowna said.

He further stated that the government’s priority was to connect more women with skills, finance, technology, markets and new livelihood opportunities. “Our priority is to strengthen this momentum by connecting women with skills, finance, technology, markets and new livelihood opportunities, so that more women can move from economic participation to economic leadership,” Chowna said.

The State is also undertaking to strengthen institutional support for these women livelihood activities. A total of 1488 federations at primary and 91 cluster level federations (CLFs) have been established at primary and cluster level in Arunachal Pradesh in support of the SHGs and strengthen community based institution. The government has targeted to set up 30 Viksit CLFs by March 2027, to build more robust, self-reliant and sustainable women-led institutions.

The progress is being done in the auspices of the Arunachal State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ArSRLM) and taking a broader approach towards women's livelihoods, entrepreneurship development, financial access and market linkages. The state's strategy is more and more focused on linking individual women's income growth to longer-term support of women entrepreneurs within the context of a stronger community institutional framework.

Arunachal Pradesh is scaling up a women-centric livelihood approach that empowers women with income generation and grassroots leadership and financial independence. More than 16,000 women have already achieved the Lakhpati Didi target and thousands more are identified as potential beneficiaries.