SELF-HELP GROUP UNDER DAY-NRLM

1. At a Glance

DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission) is the Ministry of Rural Development's flagship poverty-alleviation programme that organises rural poor women into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for thrift, credit and livelihood [S1][S2].
It is the world's largest women-empowerment / micro-finance initiative, with 10.05 crore households mobilised into 90.91 lakh SHGs as of December 2025 [S1].
Critical for GS-II (welfare schemes, women) and GS-III (financial inclusion, rural economy).

PIB release (3 Feb 2026) updating Parliament-style data: 10.05 cr households / 90.91 lakh SHGs mobilised; 50,548 Bank Sakhis deployed; institutionalisation of Community Based Recovery Mechanism (CBRM) at every bank branch [S1].
Continued scale-up of Lakhpati Didi and Namo Drone Didi outputs riding on the SHG architecture [S4][S5].

2010–11: NRLM launched by restructuring Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY, 1999) [S2].
2015–16: Renamed Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – NRLM [S2].
2023: National campaign "Sangathan se Samriddhi" to mobilise 10 crore rural women into SHGs [S2].
2023–26: Namo Drone Didi (15,000 drones to SHGs) operationalised [S5].

Parent Ministry: Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Govt. of India [S2].
Predecessor: SGSY (1999) → NRLM (2011) → DAY-NRLM (2016) [S2].
Coverage (as on Jun 2024): 7,135 blocks, 742 districts, 28 States + 6 UTs [S2].
Households mobilised: 10.05 crore; SHGs: 90.91 lakh (Dec 2025) [S1].
Bank Sakhis deployed: 50,548 (Feb 2026 release); earlier 47,952 (mid-2025) [S1][S3].
Cumulative credit to SHGs: > ₹11 lakh crore [S3].
CBRM: institutionalised at every bank branch to ensure regular repayment [S1].
Monitoring portal: banklinkage.lokos.in (NRLM SHG-Bank Linkage Portal) [S3].
Sub-schemes/outputs: Lakhpati Didi (₹1 lakh+ annual HH income), Namo Drone Didi (Min. of Agriculture & FW; 80% subsidy up to ₹8 lakh on drones to 15,000 SHGs, 2023-24 to 2025-26) [S4][S5].

Economic: SHG-Bank Linkage has channelled >₹11 lakh crore of formal credit to poor women, deepening financial inclusion and reducing dependence on moneylenders [S3].
Social/Gender: Female-only mobilisation model; built community institutions (SHG → Village Org → Cluster Level Federation), enabling agency, leadership and reduction in gender-based exclusion [S2].
Administrative: Decentralised delivery via State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs); cadre of community resource persons (Bank Sakhi, Krishi Sakhi, Pashu Sakhi); CBRM ensures NPA control at branch level [S1].
Financial-Inclusion / Banking: Bank Sakhi acts as last-mile interface for loan identification, application, enhancement and follow-up; complements Business Correspondent (BC) model — 50,000 SHG women dedicated as BCs since 2021 [S1].
Governance: Aligns with Article 39(a)/(b) Directive Principles and SDG-1 (no poverty) and SDG-5 (gender equality).

Feb 2026 (PIB): Latest data — 90.91 lakh SHGs, 10.05 cr households; 50,548 Bank Sakhis [S1].
2025: SHG-Bank Linkage portal banklinkage.lokos.in operational; AP leads bank-loan disbursement [S3].
2024–25: Namo Drone Didi operational guidelines released by Dept of Agri & FW [S5].
2023: "Sangathan se Samriddhi" campaign to onboard 10 cr women launched [S2].

DAY-NRLM is implemented by Ministry of Rural Development, not Ministry of Women & Child Development [S2].
Launched as NRLM in 2011; renamed DAY-NRLM in 2015-16 [S2].
Restructured from SGSY (1999) [S2].
Bank Sakhi is a community cadre under DAY-NRLM, not under RBI/NABARD [S1].
CBRM = Community Based Recovery Mechanism, at each bank branch [S1].
Lakhpati Didi: SHG woman earning ≥ ₹1 lakh/year; an output, not a separate scheme [S4].
Namo Drone Didi: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare (NOT Rural Development); 80% subsidy capped at ₹8 lakh; target 15,000 drones (2023-24 to 2025-26) [S5].
SHGs accessed > ₹11 lakh crore in cumulative bank credit [S3].
Coverage: 28 States + 6 UTs, 742 districts (Jun 2024) [S2].
90.91 lakh SHGs as of Dec 2025 [S1].
Drone Didi training: 15-day mandatory pilot + agri training [S5].
Bank-Linkage portal hosted at lokos.in subdomain [S3].

GS-II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections; mechanisms, laws, institutions for women empowerment.
GS-III: Inclusive growth, financial inclusion, micro-finance, rural economy.
Plausible stems: 1. "DAY-NRLM has transformed SHGs from thrift groups into community institutions of poverty governance." Discuss. 2. Examine the role of Bank Sakhis and CBRM in deepening SHG-Bank linkage in rural India. 3. "Lakhpati Didi and Namo Drone Didi mark a shift from social mobilisation to enterprise creation under DAY-NRLM." Critically analyse.

Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) — direct predecessor.
National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) — urban twin under MoHUA.
PM SVANidhi / Mudra Yojana — parallel micro-credit channels.
Business Correspondent (BC) model / RBI Financial Inclusion — Bank Sakhi linkage.
PMAY-G, MGNREGA — converging rural welfare ecosystem of MoRD.
Namo Drone Didi — Min. of Agriculture's SHG-tied scheme.
NABARD SHG-BLP (1992) — origin of SHG-bank linkage in India.
Article 243G & 11th Schedule — Panchayati Raj convergence.

Confusing DAY-NRLM (rural, MoRD) with DAY-NULM (urban, MoHUA).
Attributing Namo Drone Didi to MoRD — it is under Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
Treating Lakhpati Didi as a standalone scheme — it is an output under DAY-NRLM.
Confusing Bank Sakhi (SHG-bank liaison) with Banking Correspondent (BC) — overlapping but distinct cadres.
Year confusion: NRLM (2011) vs DAY-NRLM rename (2015-16); SGSY launched 1999.

[S1] SELF-HELP GROUP UNDER DAY-NRLM, PIB, 03 Feb 2026 — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2222697 — (tier 1)
[S2] Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – NRLM, PIB — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2181702 — (tier 1)
[S3] Self-Help Groups under NRLM, PIB — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2146872 — (tier 1)
[S4] Lakhpati Didi Scheme – A Milestone in Women's Economic Upliftment, PIB document — https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2024/aug/doc2024829382701.pdf — (tier 1)
[S5] Operational Guidelines of NAMO DRONE DIDI, PIB — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2070029 — (tier 1)