Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Launch Bihar’s New Cooperative for Women’s Empowerment
In a big step toward empowering women and strengthening rural economies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited on Tuesday. The event will be held at 12:30 p.m. through a video conference.
During the launch, PM Modi will also transfer Rs 105 crore directly into the new cooperative. This financial support provides a strong start for the organization, helping it serve rural women better.
This new cooperative is specially created to offer affordable banking and financial services to women connected with the Jeevika program. Jeevika is Bihar’s prominent initiative aimed at improving rural livelihoods. All the registered Cluster-Level Federations under Jeevika will become members of this new cooperative, making it a big step for women’s financial inclusion.
The Bihar and Central Governments are working together to fund this project, highlighting its importance for rural development.
Thousands of women involved with Jeevika’s self-help groups have already started small businesses and production units across Bihar. But many of these women depended on microfinance institutions that charged very high-interest rates, sometimes between 18% and 24%. This new cooperative aims to change that by providing larger loans at much lower interest rates, making borrowing easier and cheaper for women entrepreneurs.
The entire platform will run digitally, ensuring quick, transparent transactions. Around 12,000 community workers, called cadres, are being provided with tablets to help women, affectionately called “Didis,” access and understand financial services easily.
This initiative is expected to boost financial inclusion, empower rural women, and foster community-led entrepreneurship. It is estimated that about 2 million women across Bihar will watch the live launch, showing how far-reaching this move is for grassroots development.
Overall, the Jeevika Nidhi Federation marks a major step toward building a more inclusive, self-reliant rural Bihar — focused on women’s empowerment and cooperative progress.
