What Happened
- India is accelerating women's financial empowerment through a multi-pronged approach spanning self-help groups (SHGs), drone technology, savings schemes, and digital financial inclusion.
- The NaMo Drone Didi programme is training rural women SHG members as drone pilots to provide agricultural services to farmers, generating supplementary incomes of at least ₹1 lakh per SHG per year.
- As of January 2025, over 90.9 lakh SHGs cover 10.05 crore women households under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), forming the largest community institution network in the world.
- Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana continues to serve as a key long-term savings instrument for the girl child, with a current interest rate of 8.2% per annum.
- Collateral-free loans of up to ₹20 lakh are available to women entrepreneurs through schemes promoting micro and small enterprise creation.
Static Topic Bridges
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and National Rural Livelihoods Mission
Self-Help Groups are informal financial intermediaries — groups of 10-20 individuals (predominantly women) who pool savings and extend internal credit on rotational or needs-based terms. In the development finance model, SHGs are linked to formal banking institutions (Bank Linkage Programme), enabling members to access credit at institutional rates. The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), launched in 2011 and managed by the Ministry of Rural Development, is the government's flagship programme to organise rural poor women into SHGs and build livelihood assets.
- 90.9 lakh SHGs covering 10.05 crore women households as of January 2025 — world's largest such network
- Over ₹6.9 lakh crore credit disbursed in FY2024; NPA below 2.3%
- Repayment rate: above 96%
- Over 1 lakh SHG women trained and deployed as Bank Sakhis (business correspondents) since 2016
- Bank Linkage Programme (BLP): SHGs open savings accounts, build credit history, and access bank loans typically 4x their corpus
Connection to this news: The expanding scale of DAY-NRLM provides the institutional backbone through which new initiatives like Drone Didi are delivered — SHGs are the delivery vehicle for technology skilling and enterprise development.
NaMo Drone Didi Scheme
Launched on November 30, 2023, the NaMo Drone Didi scheme is a Central Sector Scheme under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare aimed at equipping women-led SHGs with agricultural drones to provide rental services to farmers. It directly integrates drone technology into the rural SHG network, creating a new income stream for rural women while improving precision agriculture outcomes.
- Target: 15,000 women SHGs with drones, FY 2024-25 to FY 2025-26
- Budget: ₹1,261 crore
- Central Financial Assistance: 80% of drone cost, capped at ₹8 lakh per drone
- Training: 15 days (5 days drone operation + 10 days agrochemical application)
- Two members per SHG trained: one drone pilot, one maintenance technician
- Each SHG expected to manage 2,000-2,500 acres annually
- Projected additional income: ≥₹1 lakh per SHG per year
Connection to this news: Drone Didi represents a structural evolution of the SHG model — from savings and credit intermediation towards skill-based enterprise, positioning rural women as technology service providers in the agricultural value chain.
Financial Inclusion and Women-Centric Savings Schemes
Financial inclusion — access to affordable formal financial services — is a foundational element of women's economic empowerment. Key instruments include the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which has made banking access near-universal, and targeted savings schemes like Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY). SSY, launched under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign in 2015, is a government-backed small deposit scheme for the girl child with EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) tax status.
- Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana interest rate: 8.2% per annum (among highest for small savings schemes, FY 2024-25)
- Minimum deposit: ₹250; maximum: ₹1.5 lakh per year; account matures at 21 years (girl's age) or at marriage after age 18
- PMJDY: over 53 crore accounts opened; ~56% held by women
- Mudra Yojana: collateral-free loans up to ₹10 lakh for micro-enterprises; majority of beneficiaries are women
Connection to this news: Together, these schemes address different stages of women's financial lifecycle — savings and asset creation for the girl child, working capital for adult entrepreneurs, and enterprise upskilling through SHGs.
Key Facts & Data
- SHGs under DAY-NRLM: 90.9 lakh groups, 10.05 crore women households (January 2025)
- Credit disbursed to SHGs in FY2024: ₹6.9 lakh crore; NPA: below 2.3%
- NaMo Drone Didi target: 15,000 SHGs; budget: ₹1,261 crore; income target: ₹1 lakh/SHG/year
- Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana rate: 8.2% p.a. (FY 2024-25)
- Bank Sakhis deployed since 2016: over 1 lakh
- Women account holders under PMJDY: ~56% of all 53+ crore accounts
- Collateral-free loans for women entrepreneurs: up to ₹20 lakh