MoRD and PCI India Sign Non-Financial MoU to Strengthen Women-Led Enterprises

MoRD and PCI India Sign Non-Financial MoU to Strengthen Women-Led Enterprises

• Who: Ministry of Rural Development through DAY-NRLM + Project Concern International [PCI] India for 3 years 2026-2029.
• Exchanged between: Swati Sharma [JS Rural Livelihoods MoRD] and Indrajit Chaudhuri [CEO & Country Director PCI India] under chairpersonship of Rohit Kansal [Secretary Dept Rural Development].
• Full Name: Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission launched 2011 under MoRD to reduce rural poverty via SHGs, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship.[DAY-NRLM]
• Objective: Strengthen participation of Women-Led Enterprises and SHG enterprises in government and institutional procurement. Builds on 2022 initiative "Leveraging Public Procurement for Women's Economic Empowerment" and aims to create 6 crore Lakhpati Didis.[WLEs]
• Support Mechanism: National Resource Cell / Public Procurement and Business Model Support Cell under DAY-NRLM with technical support from PCI India to strengthen procurement-linked ecosystems across SRLMs.
• Capacity Building: Enterprise incubation frameworks, SOPs, operational toolkits, knowledge products, standardized capacity-building modules for SHG enterprises.
• Procurement Support: Training and handholding to SRLM teams and SHG enterprises on GeM onboarding, tender participation, quality standards, documentation, procurement compliance.
• Implementation FY 2026-27: Initially to Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, UP.
• UPSC Relevance: GS3 - Inclusive Growth, Women Empowerment, SHG, GeM, Public Procurement, Lakhpati Didi.