Chief secretary sets a target of making 2.5 lakh Lakhpati Didis in the FY 2026-27
PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
Chief secretary Anand Bardhan has set a target of making 2.5 lakh Lakhpati Didis for the Rural Development department of the State in the financial year 2026-27. The CS gave the order while chairing a meeting of the High Power and Guidance Committee of the Rural Enterprise Acceleration Project (REAP) on Tuesday. He said that the year 2026 is being celebrated as the International Year of Women Farmers and directed the department to prepare a detailed action plan to provide special financial, technical, capital and institutional incentives to women under the Lakhpati Didi scheme.
After setting the target on new Lakhpati Didis, the CS directed that women benefiting from the REAP project be linked to other departmental and Central and State government schemes. He added that the department should also compile a consolidated report of all schemes.
In the meeting, the secretary of the department, DS Gabriyal presented the progress and compliance report regarding the annual action plan for the year 2025-26 and the proposed annual action plan and budget for the financial year 2026-27.
The committee approved an annual action plan and budget of Rs 677.75 crore for the year 2026-27. Financial and administrative approval was granted to programmes related to promoting self-employment, livelihood promotion, income-generating activities, local resource development, agriculture and allied activities within the proposed action plan.
The CS said that effective convergence with various schemes should be ensured for the economic and social empowerment of the beneficiaries. He also directed the development of concrete action plans and extensive homework to sustainably uplift rural families. In the meeting, the CS sought to identify women self-help groups with similar nature of work and asked the department to prepare a strategy to provide them better support in terms of livelihood and self-employment. He said that the underutilized growth centres in rural areas should be identified and they should be linked with the House of the Himalayas brand.
