‘Lakhpati Didis’ and beyond: When the personal becomes political

Gayatri Didi, a member of a self-help group (SHG) in Karnataka, whom I spoke to in May this year, was enthusiastic about the recent training she received on cultivating dragon fruit — something she began cultivating after taking a loan from her SHG. Working as a Krishi Sakhi, she spoke of how the availability of financial capital on easy terms and interest rates, along with trust within the community, enabled her to pursue modern farming of such an ‘aspirational’ and profitable crop.

Pinki Didi, another SHG didi, I met in Varanasi, proudly told me about the e-rickshaw she purchased on an easy loan facilitated by her SHG and how financially independent this economic pursuit made her, instilling social freedom, in her too as well.

“I bought my mother-in-law gold jewellery — something which her son or husband couldn’t give her,” she mentioned.

There are many such anecdotes emerging from the grassroots — speaking volumes of the sustained efforts that have nurtured a vast network of women-based SHGs as one of the most potent forms of human capital.

Consolidation of the ‘SHG’

Meeting countless SHG women during my field escapades, and at various visibility platforms across the country such as the SARAS Aajeevika Mela, Surajkund Mela, Aadi Mahotsav, and others, I have consistently seen rural women emerge as the most critical public service delivery facilitators. Several years ago, some of these women-based groups were actively strengthening India’s vibrant arts and crafts industry and promoting the country on the global map of GI-tagged cultural tangible and intangible heritage through beautiful weaves, arts, and crafts, in addition to the agricultural work they would do. Today they are crucial participants in the democratic and developmental processes.

The earliest ideas of SHGs took shape as small groups of women suppoeted by collectives like Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and MYRADA in the 1970s-80s. These groups later became more institutional with NABARD’s SHG-Bank Linkage Programme in 1992, and later with the Swarnajayanti Grameen Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) in 1999. In 2011, this scheme was renamed the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), and by 2016 it became Deen Dayal Antoyada DAY-NRLM and DAY-NULM (National Urban Livelihoods Mission).

The Press Information Bureau mentions there were 2.35 crore (23.5 million) SHG members in 2014. In June 2025, there were around 90–91 lakh (9-9.1 million) SHGs with over 10 crore (100 million) women members. During COVID-19, many of these women rose to the myriad challenges of the pandemic and served as frontline workers by manufacturing masks, sanitisers, and other equipment that came in handy during the crisis. ASHA and Anganwadi workers all contributed towards advocacy efforts — again underscoring the importance of women as last-mile service delivery facilitators. In 2022, with the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, SHG didis and sakhis made flags, encouraged by state governments and district administrations instilling a sense of national and moral responsibility in them while also advancing their livelihoods.

Social capital, cultural and political dividends

Political parties from the Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) at the national level, Janata Dal (United) in Bihar, the Biju Janata Dal’s erstwhile Mission Shakti in Odisha, to the Left Democratic Front-led Kudumbashree in Kerala and other states, have recognised the immense latent potential of women, first as economic actors, their contribution to cultural capital or the ‘orange economy’, and finally as decisive participants in democratic processes. Since the 2019 and 2024 General Elections, and the various assembly elections that have followed, the woman vote has consolidated. With Bihar witnessing its highest female voter turnout ever at 71.6 per cent in the recent election, the organic solidarity of rural women voters is now blatantly visible on the surface. Nationally, a few years ago, schemes like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Nal Jal Mission, Ujjwala Yojana, Saubhagya Scheme, and others played a significant role in this consolidation.

In Bihar, the cycle under the Mukhyamantri Cycle Yojana has over the years become a critical asset for the rural poor — second only to land and livestock — by enabling socio-economic and developmental mobility. The girls who received cycles in 2006 would have cast their votes in 2015 and beyond, often riding the very same cycles to the polling booths, underscoring the argument of Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom. It is being argued by psephologists and experts alike that some of the  young girls who got cycles took the role of Jeevika Didis many years later. Thus, these groups of women formed sustained and influential vote bank. Similarly, the prohibition of liquor, social security measures, and the reservation of seats for women in panchayats further strengthened women’s social solidarity and collective capital.  

Agents of socio-economic and political change

In Bihar alone, since 2006, a dense network of over 14 million Jeevika Didis under Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society has been steadily building institutional social capital. In 2025, nearly 2 million Lakhpati Didis associated with SHGs played a decisive role. Nationally, through their roles as Samuh Sakhis, Swasthya Sakhis, BC Sakhis, Bank Sakhis, Krishi Sakhis, and Pashu Sakhis, they are contributing to national developmental milestones. The ‘Namo Drone Didi’ scheme has been transformative in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where women have broken the ‘technological apartheid’ argument while addressing effective pesticide application. The drone didi initiative, in fact, brought global attention to this innovation with Bill Gates documenting his experiences of meeting the resilient drone didis from Bihar, in April this year.

A drone didi I met in Varanasi was quick to tell me, “We may not be able to drive a car, but we can fly a drone. We may never have sat in an aeroplane, but we are drone pilots.”

A young sociology graduate working as a BC Sakhi in Rae Bareli explained the commission she earns because of her job. SHG women trained to drive e-rickshaws shared how NRLM loans — especially the initial revolving funds have enabled them to start small entrepreneurial ventures, independently.

If one were to contextualise this transformation on a national level with the Bihar election, the dus hazaari jibe is bound to fall flat. The Rs 10,000 assistance provided under the Mahila Mukhyamantri Rozgar Yojana is logically aligned with the SHG model, where women typically borrow at 1–2 per cent interest to start micro-enterprises — emanating from their weekly savings of Rs 10–20.

In many parts of the country, through the SHGs, women borrow loans for all types of economic purposes ranging from dairy businesses, poultry, livestock and goat-rearing, beauty parlours, grocery shops, SHG-run canteens selling regional delicacies, including millet-based snacks. Initiatives like the Makhana Board and Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited added further impetus to the entrepreneurial push. Further, raising salaries of ASHA workers and Mamta Didis, along with the Election Commission of India deploying over 180,000 Jeevika Didis to engage with women voters and motivate them to cast their votes, improved electoral participation. It is important to note that the Khelo India Youth Games in 2025 took place in Bihar, appealing to Gen Z and the young voters.

To infantilise these initiatives, rooted in human capital, social capability, is dismissive and underestimates the intelligence of the average voter. Through the SHG-led development model, political parties, especially the BJP, are tapping into the most critical constituency of all: young and older women — the shehri mahila, grameen mahila, and the youth. Young women, owing to mobility restrictions, especially after marriage, and the absence of salaried formal-sector jobs in far-flung villages, embrace opportunities presented by SHGs and are, therefore, not mere laabhartis.

As one didi told me: “Earlier, we had no identity. We were like a speck of dust on a mirror. Ever since we joined the SHG, we began stepping out of our homes, and through the group we found a new identity. Our in-laws and husbands now support us because being part of the SHG means we can access loans easily, we are able to repay them on time, and we also earn an income of our own.”

Another didi working as a BC Sakhi in Uttar Pradesh told me how she earned a commission in lakhs: “I want to thank the person who started this idea of an SHG. Without the ‘samooh’, we would be nothing. Today, we are able to step out of our homes, and people now recognise us by our names. ‘Lakhpati Didi,’ ‘Bank Correspondent Didi’ — that’s what they call us. Even our in-laws now know us because of this. When our photos appear in the newspaper, people from the village WhatsApp us and proudly share it as their status.”

Social media, especially Instagram and WhatsApp, has played a significant role in making opportunities visible and accessible to them, while also helping them in real-time monitoring. A Drone Didi I met had an Instagram page and a visiting card, which she keeps for making farmers aware and enabling them to contact her.

With the upcoming elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu next year, and eventually Uttar Pradesh and Punjab in 2027, the strength of this women-led, SHG-centred silent revolution with women emerging as active participants will only become more pronounced. Political parties must now engage with them meaningfully and inclusively, recognising SHG women as credible, community-based candidates to make women’s empowerment truly holistic — social, economic, familial, psychological, and ultimately, political.

Swasti Pachauri is an academic and a public policy professional

Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth