The Women Entrepreneurship Platform, incubated at NITI in collaboration with Reliance Foundation under the Empowering Rural Women Kirana Entrepreneurs (ATR) pilot program, recently celebrated five outstanding women kirana entrepreneurs at a special event held at the NITI premises.
Dr. Joram Aniya (Member, NITI Aayog), Ms. Anna Roy (Mission Director, WEP and Program Director, NITI Aayog), Ms. Deepthi Nukalapati (Chief – Women Empowerment, Reliance Foundation) and Ms. Sonal Jaitly (Associate Partner and Global Lead – GEDSI, MicroSave Consulting (MSC)) were amongst the dignitaries attending the felicitation ceremony in Delhi along with the awardees and their family members. The five selected women entrepreneurs felicitated were given INR 1, 00,000 each as an appreciation for their commitment and progress as a woman entrepreneur.
The five women entrepreneurs were representative examples of leadership, resilience and adaptability of entrepreneurs in their community. At the ceremony they shared their achievements of learning and future plans to grow their business with the techniques and knowledge they have acquired in the training program.
Key Highlights:
- Five women entrepreneurs received INR 1 lakh each under the RWKE program
- 108 women were trained through 175+ sessions in Madhya Pradesh
- The initiative boosted financial, digital, and business skills for rural women
A pilot initiative by Reliance Foundation, in association with Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) and technical support from MicroSave Consulting (MSC) to improve women-led kirana stores in the districts of Barwani, Vidisha and Raisen in Madhya Pradesh.
The program was conceived with the understanding that rural women entrepreneurs are extremely important assets in sustaining household incomes and local economies and the structural barriers that sometimes restrict their businesses inhibits their growth. The program was targeted to four main areas – financial capability, digital adoption, market orientation, and business planning – and involved targeted capacity-building and handholding support.
The RWKE program has been in operation since its launch, providing 1,200+ hours of structured learning through 175+ training sessions in 6 blocks (Barwani, Pati, Ganj Basoda, Vidisha, Obedullaganj and Sanchi) in 3 districts (Vidisha, Raisen, and Barwani) to 108 women entrepreneurs.
The capacity building curriculum is presented in a participatory way, in local languages and builds women's capacity on various issues ranging from budgeting to bookkeeping, supplier linkages, inventory to enterprise growth planning.
The program highlights the need for the cooperation and partnership between the public and private sector actors in enhancing the entrepreneurship ecosystems in rural areas. The comprehensive approach that integrates institutional backing, technical expertise, and ground-level execution has established a structured pathway for rural women entrepreneurs to boost their business skills and optimize enterprise results.
The RWKE program also underscores the importance of women-led Kirana stores as the key link points in the rural supply chain and local economy. These programs can strengthen women entrepreneurs' resilience, enhance their digitalization and empower them to make financial and operational choices. Reliance Foundation has a strong interest in promoting women's empowerment in many forms such as economic empowerment / entrepreneurship which will lead to an impact not only for the individual but also for the society.
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