Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu with the beneficiaries of government schemes, during the State-level International Women’s Day celebrations at Markapuram in Prakasam district on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has set a target to create one lakh women entrepreneurs in the State over the next one year.

Participating in the State-level Women’s Day celebrations at Markapuram, Prakasam district, on Saturday, he launched several schemes and programmes to promote women’s welfare, empowerment, and safety.

The State government signed various MoUs with 24 organisations to provide self-employment opportunities and financial facilitation for women through the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), Mission For Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA) and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister said, “The MoUs with 24 companies will help women entrepreneurs and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to excel in their businesses. The State government will provide marketing support for products made by women. We will provide 45% subsidy on investment for women entrepreneurs. We will further increase the dignity of women in the State.”

Around 30,000 women would be supported through MEPMA. About 10,000 women would be partnered with ride-hailing service provider Rapido, 4,000 would benefit from self-employment schemes, 4,000 would be included in Central government-sponsored schemes, and another 4,000 women would be engaged in tourism-related sector, it was stated.

Further, 4,000 women would be supported to establish Thrupti Hotels, while 2,000 would participate in Smart Streets vending zones, and another 2,000 women would be given livelihood centres under TIDCO.

An action plan for 2025-26 was released to employ 10,000 women in the MSME sector.

Mr. Naidu announced that these MoUs would help ensure the economic development of women across the State.

Citing the example of his wife Nara Bhuvaneswari taking over the business when he had entered politics, he asked the women in the State to unleash their power and turn successful as an economic force. He assured them of all support from the State government for their growth as industrialists and entrepreneurs.

Handloom Rath

Mr. Naidu launched Handloom Raths (Cheneta Rathalu) to market handloom products. Each district would receive a van worth ₹60 lakh. Additionally, free yarn for weaving 36 sarees would be distributed to each woman weaver. With ₹224.15 crore, nearly 1.5 lakh sewing machines would be given away free of cost to women from economically backward classes.

Bank loans

Bank loans worth ₹645.52 crore were distributed to 7,471 urban poor women. Each woman received loans ranging from ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh. Under the Bank Linkage Scheme, ₹1,826.43 crore was sanctioned for 1.43 lakh rural women, and ₹1,000 crore was allocated under the Stree Nidhi scheme. The Chief Minister gave away cheques to the beneficiaries.

MoU with Flipkart

The State government partnered with e-commerce major Flipkart to sell DWCRA products. It also signed an agreement with Catalyst Management Services to provide business training for women in agriculture and non-agriculture sectors. An agreement was signed with the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation to support agricultural value chains.

The government also partnered with the Centre for Collective Development (also known as Farmveda) to purchase organic products from DWCRA groups and provide marketing support to the farmers. Another agreement was signed with Gato’s Café to train DWCRA women in small-scale hotel businesses, creating job opportunities in rural areas.

To enhance livelihood opportunities for service providers, the government partnered with Home Triangle. This initiative would benefit 18,515 service providers, including electricians, plumbers, carpenters, beauticians, and home appliance repairers. Their monthly net incomes were expected to range between ₹15,000 and ₹35,000, it was stated.

Gratuity

The Chief Minister announced a gratuity scheme for 55,607 Anganwadi workers and 48,909 helpers. They would receive ₹1.79 lakh to 2.32 lakh, and ₹1.09 lakh to 1.41 lakh respectively. The scheme would cost the government ₹17.73 crore annually. The long-awaited gratuity scheme for ASHA workers was launched and the government released ₹1.90 crore for the purpose.