The Odisha government will have a separate Mission Shakti department, which would exclusively work for around 70 lakh rural women associated with nearly six lakh women self-help groups (SHGs), created under the Mission Shakti movement.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, announced on the occasion of International Women’s Day, “Odisha will be the first state to have an exclusive department for the SHGs. It will be dedicated to all the women of Odisha.
The creation of a separate administrative department has been conceptualized to work with more focus for the rural women under the Mission Shakti programme that aims social and economic upliftment of the rural women, said an official source.
“Mission Shakti is currently being run under the state women and child development (W&CD) department. It will now be headed by a secretary rank officer (senior IAS officer). When you have a separate department with a specific area of work, things will be done in a better and focused manner”, said a senior government official.
The state government provides financial support to the SHGs through bank loans to encourage rural women to take up various livelihood activities.