TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sl. PAGE
TITLE
No. No.
1. Introduction 1

2. Tamil Nadu Corporation for 9

Development of Women
(TNCDW)
2.1 History of TNCDW 11

2.2 Organisational Structure 13

3. SHG Movement and Mahalir 15
Thittam

3.1 International Fund for Agricultural 17

Development (IFAD)
3.2 Mahalir Thittam 18

4 Schemes under TNCDW 21

4.1 Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihoods 24
Mission (TNSRLM)
4.2 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen 25
Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)

4.3 Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihoods 26

Mission (TNULM)

i
Sl. PAGE
TITLE
No. No.
5. Tamil Nadu State Rural 27
Livelihoods Mission (TNSRLM)
5.1 Social Mobilisation and Institution 29
Building
5.2 Capacity Building 41
5.3 Financial Inclusion and Access to 45
Bank Credit
5.4 Social Interventions through 59
Partnership & Convergence
5.5 Livelihood Promotion 76
5.6 Awards 108
6. Skill Training and Placement 111
6.1 Building a Skilled Work Force 113
6.2 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya 115
Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-
GKY)
6.3 Rural Self Employment Training 119
Institutes (RSETIs)
6.4 UNNATI 121
6.5 Youth Skill Festivals (YSFs) 122
6.6 Direct Employment Through Job 123
Melas
6.7 Captive Employer 124

ii
Sl. PAGE
TITLE
No. No.
7. Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihoods 127
Mission (TNULM)
7.1 Social Mobilization and Institution 130
Development (SM&ID)
7.2 Capacity Building and Training 134
(CBT)
7.3 Self-Employment Programme 135

7.4 Entrepreneurship Development 139

Programme (EDP) Training
7.5 Partnership and Convergence 140

8. Tamil Nadu Rural 143

Transformation Project
(TNRTP) @ Vazhndhu
Kattuvom Project (VKP) 2.0
8.1 Project Development Objectives 147
8.2 Funding Pattern 147
8.3 Major Components of the Project 148
8.4 Key implementation strategies 149
8.5 Group Enterprises 150
8.6 Individual Enterprises 153

iii
Sl. PAGE
TITLE
No. No.
8.7 Community based Farm and Skill 154
Schools
8.8 Enterprise Finance through Formal 158
Financial Institutions
8.9 Promoting Business Innovation 163
8.10 Establishment of Institutions 164
8.11 Capacity Building for Individual 168
Enterprises
8.12 Monitoring and Evaluation 172
8.13 Management Information System 174
9. Societies under TNCDW 181
9.1 Tamil Nadu State Non- 183
Governmental Organizations and
Volunteers Resource Centre
(TNVRC)
9.2 MUTRAM - A Monthly Magazine 185
9.3 Tamil Nadu State Supply and 187
Marketing Society - TNSSMS
10. Conclusion 188

iv
1. INTRODUCTION

1
2
Introduction

“ஒரு மெழுகுவர்த்தியைக் ம ொளுத்தினொல்,

அயைக்ம ொண்டு ஆயிரம் விளக்கு யள ஏற்ற
முடியும். அறிமவொளி மெற்ற ஒரு மெண்ணொலும்
அது முடியும்.”

- முத்தமிழறிஞர் கலைஞர் அவர்கள்

மாண்புமிகு முன்னாள் தமிழ்நாடு முதைலமச்சர்

ெ ளிரின் ெகிழ்ச்சி ைொன் நெது

மெைலொக் த்திற் ொன உண்யெைொன அளவுக ொல்!
ெ ளிர் ெகிழ்ச்சி அயைந்ைொல், அவர் ளது ெனது
நியறந்ைொல் கெொதும்.

நொம் ெரிைொன ெொயையில் ெைணிக்கிகறொம்

என்ெைற்கு அதுகவ நற்ெொன்று.

இல்லத்யை ெட்டுமின்றி, உல த்யையும் இைங் ச்

மெய்யும் ஆற்றல் மிக் வர் ள் ெ ளிர்.

- மு. . ஸ்ைொலின் அவர் ள்

ெொண்புமிகு ைமிழ்நொடு முைலயெச்ெர்

3
 The above profound words of the former
Chief Minister Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi and
our visionary Chief Minister Thiru. M.K. Stalin
reflect the continued commitment of
Government of Tamil Nadu towards the
empowerment of women. Tamil Nadu has
always been a frontrunner and torchbearer in
developing visionary policies for economic
independence, social development and
political empowerment of women.

The Self Help Group (SHG) Movement

started by Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi in a small
way in Dharmapuri District in 1989 has now
grown into a mammoth movement covering
all districts of the State targeting poor
families and marginalized sections of the
Society. Groups of 10 to 20 women were
organized into SHGs and financial help is
extended to inculcate the habit of savings
and to develop financial independence.

4
 SHG women have been assisted
through an array of schemes over the years
and presently, Tamil Nadu Corporation for
Development of Women (TNCDW) is
executing Rural and Urban Livelihood
Missions and World Bank assisted (Externally
Aided Project) ‘Vaazhndu Kaattuvom Project’
for the nurturing of SHGs.

The entire SHGs movement focuses on

the formation of groups and then organising
them into an umbrella structure of Panchayat
Level Federations (PLF) in the Village
Panchayat and Block Level Federations (BLF)
at the Block Level in the rural areas.
Similarly, the urban SHG movement revolves
around the formation of Area Level
Federations (ALF) at the ULB Level and
Cluster Level Federations (CLF) at the City
Level.

5
 The activities of TNCDW primarily focus
on the formation of groups and enhancing
their economic independence through the
release of Revolving Fund (RF) and
Community Investment Fund (CIF) as credit
that prevent them from entering into the
clutches of money-lenders.

The SHG member women are further

assisted to become self-sufficient by
providing linkages for enhancing their
livelihoods and imparting entrepreneurial skill
training resulting in the creation of micro-
enterprises and clusters that support their
lives and livelihoods.

The community-based organisations

and network of community professionals act
as enabling channels for targeting the
women and especially the economically poor
for scheme benefits and delivery of
Government services.

6
 Originally designed as a saving and
credit group, the role of SHGs supported by
TNCDW has expanded to include creating
health and nutrition awareness, improving
governance and addressing social issues
related to gender based discrimination. SHGs
have, across the period of time, transformed
to become a powerful institution for socio-
economic transformation of Tamil Nadu.

7
8
 2. TAMIL NADU
CORPORATION FOR
DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN
(TNCDW)

9
10
2.1 History of TNCDW

The Government of Tamil Nadu is a

pioneering State to have established a
separate entity for Socio-economic
development of Women viz., Tamil Nadu
Corporation for Development of Women
(TNCDW) which was registered under the
Companies Act and incorporated on 9 th
December 1983.

The Tamil Nadu Corporation for

Development of Women is an aegis
organisation anchoring various poverty
alleviation and livelihood missions for the
improvement of poor, marginalised and
vulnerable especially women in both rural
and urban areas.

TNCDW was under the administrative

control of Social Welfare Department from
inception till 2006. In July 2006, the

11
Corporation was brought under the
administrative control of Rural
Development and Panchayat Raj
Department in order to bring about greater
synergy and better co-ordination while
implementing various schemes for Self-
Help Groups and to ensure effective
convergence at the grass root level with
Panchayati Raj Institutions.

The Tamil Nadu Corporation for

Development of Women fostered the Self-
Help Group (SHG) movement for overall
development of women by providing
legitimate avenues for social mobilisation
with access to inputs, such as training,
banking services and government services
through Community based organisations
(CBOs) like Panchayat Level Federations
(PLFs) and Block Level Federations (BLFs)
and Area Level Federations (ALFs).

12
2.2 Organisational Structure

The Additional Chief Secretary to

Government, Rural Development and
Panchayat Raj Department is the Chairperson
of the Corporation. The Managing Director,
as the functional head of the organization, is
ably assisted by the Executive Director,
Additional Directors as heads of thematic
verticals who are in turn supported by Joint
Directors, Assistant Directors, Corporation
staff and other Project staff at the State
Mission Management Unit (SMMU). Subject
experts are engaged as consultants to
provide scheme inputs for imparting capacity
building, social mobilisation & institution
building, partnership & convergence, financial
inclusion, livelihood, and enterprise
promotion activities.

13
 At the District level, the District Mission
Management Unit (DMMU) is headed by the
Project Director ‘Mahalir Thittam’ (MaThi) in
Joint Director Cadre. The Project Director is
assisted by the Assistant Project Officers for
each thematic area to co-ordinate and
accomplish scheme activities at the field
level.

In Block level, the Block Mission

Manager serves as the head of the Block
Mission Management Unit (BMMU) and is
supported by the Block Coordinators for each
thematic area of scheme implementation.
Similarly, in Urban Local Body, one
Community Organizer (CO) monitors the
implementation of the programme.

14
3. SHG MOVEMENT AND
MAHALIR THITTAM

15
16
3.1 International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) Project

The Rural Development programmes

implemented during the early 1980s did not
target women as a specific group. For the first
time, a holistic approach for the development of
women, extending beyond economic upliftment
was conceived through IFAD.

TNCDW entered into an agreement with

International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD) to formulate an alternate strategy of
development to create a democratic,
egalitarian, co-operative social structure
through ‘Self-help groups’. Originally, IFAD
project was formulated as agriculture and land
development projects, but slowly it evolved into
a movement for economic empowerment of
women, through formation and nurturing of
Self-Help Groups.

17
 The programme was initiated in
Dharmapuri and extended to Salem and South
Arcot districts in 1992 and to Madurai and
Ramanathapuram districts in 1993. The State
government through its organisation i.e., the
Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of
women (TNCDW), stepped in with its
programme which soon came to be known as
‘Mahalir Thittam’ (MaThi).

3.2 Mahalir Thittam

With the resounding success of the

IFAD project, the foundation was laid to
reach the penurious and most
underprivileged through the Self-Help
Groups. The project was implemented in a
phased manner and all rural districts were
covered.

18
 Mahalir Thittam was implemented by
Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of
Women, for the benefit of women who
voluntarily joined together and took up
savings and thrift. TNCDW put concerted
efforts to generate awareness and build their
capacity to overcome economic hurdles and
social barriers to realize their potential and
become agents of change.

Based on the success of the decade

long SHG movement in Tamil Nadu and other
states, the Union Government launched the
Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana
(SGSY), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme
across the country in 1999, to effectively
implement activities related to rural poverty
alleviation and economic empowerment of
women.

19
20
4. SCHEMES UNDER
TNCDW

21
22
4. Schemes under TNCDW

Inclusive socio-economic development

with focus on addressing poverty is a priority
for the State and Union Government. TNCDW
has a clear mandate for the socio-economic
development and political empowerment of
women and implementing poverty alleviation
and livelihood promotion programmes.

The various schemes implemented by

Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of
Women are:

i) Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihoods

Mission (TNSRLM)
ii) Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen
Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)
iii) Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihoods Mission
(TNULM)

23
4.1 Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihoods
Mission (TNSRLM)

The Government of Tamil Nadu is

implementing a scheme called Tamil Nadu
State Rural Livelihood Mission from the year
2012-13. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana –
National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-
NRLM) programme of the Union Government
is implemented as TNSRLM in Tamil Nadu.
The Mission activities are jointly funded by
Government of India and the State
Government in the ratio of 60:40. The
objectives of TNSRLM is to build strong and
vibrant institutional platforms of the poor in
the rural areas which enable them to
increase their household incomes through
livelihood enhancements and access to
financial and other services. Under this
scheme, the target group comprises of
poorest of the poor and vulnerable section of

24
the community. The target people are
mobilized into SHGs and federated into
active Community Based Organizations
(CBOs) to provide sustainable livelihood
opportunities for the women

4.2 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen

Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY)
The DDU-GKY is a placement linked
skill training programme funded by the Union
and the State Government in the ratio of
60:40, to develop skills and improve
productive capacity of the rural youth from
poor families. The Programme ensures a
minimum of 70% placement for wage
employment to trainees on successful
completion of skill training and trainees are
given National Skill Qualification Framework
(NSQF) certification.

25
4.3 Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihoods
Mission (TNULM)

Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihoods Mission

(TNULM) targets to reduce poverty and
vulnerability of the urban poor by building
strong community-based organizations,
providing skilling and access to bank credit
with interest subvention for consumption and
enterprise development purposes. TNULM is
jointly funded by Union and State
Government in the ratio of 60:40.

26
5. Tamil Nadu State Rural
Livelihoods Mission
(TNSRLM)

27
28
5.1 Social Mobilisation and Institution
Building

Social Mobilization ensures that eligible

women are identified and enrolled into Self
Help Groups and they are nurtured as
institutions of the poor by inculcating
financial discipline and democratic decision
making. They follow the 5 core principles
turned as ‘Pancha Sutra’ i.e., regular
meetings, regular savings, regular internal
lending, regular repayment and maintenance
of books of accounts.

5.1.1 Formation of new SHGs:

A group of 12 to 20 poor women in the
age group of 18 to 60 years who are residing
in the same area are organized as a ‘Self
Help Group’ (SHG). Special Self Help Groups
are those which are formed with PwD and
Elderly, with a minimum of 5 members and
maximum of 8 members.

29
 TNSRLM utilizes the Participatory
Identification of Poor (PIP) data to identify,
the vulnerable households and include them
into SHG fold.

5.1.2 Saturation of SHG Formation:

The State of Tamil Nadu has identified

vulnerable households in a phased manner
from 2005-14 and again it was updated
during 2022-23 subsequent to the COVID 19
Pandemic. TNSRLM has updated the original
PIP list with death and migration and
updated list was placed before the Grama
Sabha on October 2022 for final inclusion
and deletion. As on date 37.76 lakhs of
eligible vulnerable households in rural areas
have been mobilized into SHGs.

30
5.1.3 Community Based Organisations:
5.1.3.1 Panchayat level Federation (PLF)
The Panchayat level federation has a
minimum of 20 SHGs to maximum of all
SHGs in that Panchayats. It is a registered
entity under Tamil Nadu Societies
Registration Act 1975. Efforts are being
taken to federate all rural SHGs into PLFs.

Envisaging the sustainability of SHGs,

Government during 2008 issued an order for
strengthening the PLFs with an institutional
framework to carryout financial and non-
financial services at the Village Panchayat
level. The PLF will have an apex body at the
Block level to take care of various activities
of implementation. PLFs are provided with
various capacity building trainings and are
empowered to take up various Socio-
economic activities. The PLF consists of four
sub-committees namely, SHG formation and

31
strengthening, credit linkage and monitoring,
livelihood Promotion, PLF (SAC) i.e., Social
Action Committee for addressing social
issues. These Sub Committees will help the
PLFs in the betterment of the lives of the
community members. The PLF also has a
Social Audit Committee constituted by the
General Body to monitor the activities of PLF.

5.1.3.2 Roles and Responsibilities of

PLFs:
• To mobilize all eligible women into
SHGs.
• Strengthening and furthering the
activities of the SHGs.
• To disseminate the information about
various schemes of Government to
SHGs.
• Arranging for grading, credit rating and
preparing micro credit plan to all SHGs.
• Monitor and maintenance of books of

32
 records of SHGs.
• Democratic selection of Office Bearers.
• Facilitate the Capacity Building of
SHGs.
• Monitoring the utilization of Revolving
Fund (RF) & Community Investment
Fund (CIF) given to SHGs.
• To ensure prompt repayment of
internal and external lending.
• Act as a financial intermediary for SHG
members.

5.1.3.3 Block Level Federations (BLFs)

The BLFs are formed with the

representatives of the PLFs from each
Panchayat in that Block. All 388 Block
Level Federations of the State have been
formed and registered under Tamil Nadu
Societies Registration Act 1975.

33
 The functions of BLFs are:
• Strengthening of PLFs.
• Increase the skill of the SHGs to obtain
the bank linkage.
• To ensure the timely repayment of CIF
and bank loans.
• To identify viable and sustainable
income generation activities for the
communities.
• To ensure social inclusion and to
address social issues like Gender,
Rights & Entitlements, Food, Nutrition,
Health and Water Sanitation and
Hygiene (WASH) etc.
• To act as a Block Level Training Centre
to conduct all capacity building
trainings.
5.1.4 Model Block Level Federations:
Model Block Level federation aims at
eliminating rural poverty through promotion

34
and strengthening of member owned,
member managed, member controlled
financially sustainable CBOs and their
federations.

5.1.4.1 Objectives:

• To promote financially self-sustainable

Federations.
• To develop SHG Federations as
demonstration sites.
• Act as an apex-training center for
replication of the same model in the
remaining blocks.
• Developing of social capital.
• Act as a resource center to fulfil the
training needs of CBOs.

5.1.4.2 Vision Building Exercise (VBE):

In order to make the Model Block Level

Federation as a self-sustainable institution,
Vision Building Exercises are being

35
undertaken with three-pronged strategies of
Visioning, Annual Action Plan and Business
Development Plan.

Vision Plan is to achieve the SHG

member’s dreams and requirements by
individual, family, and village in multiple
dimensions. Annual Action Plan is a
strategic timeline calendar and schedule to
achieve SHG members vision plan. Business
Development Plan is being prepared to
achieve the self-sustainability of the Model
Block Level federation.

5.1.4.3 Expected Outcomes of MBLFs:

• Model BLFs shall demonstrate standard

systems.
• The BLFs shall include all eligible
members especially most vulnerable
into SHG fold and give priority to them
in provision of all benefits and services.

36
 • Model BLFs will have all legal identity
and fulfill statutory requirements
regularly.
• Higher order social capital will be
developed for members of Model BLF.
• All project staff will be trained on MBLF
to function effectively.

5.1.5 Financial Assistance to SHGs

5.1.5.1 Revolving Fund (RF)

Revolving Fund is being provided to all

trained positively graded SHGs on completion
of 3 months. An amount of Rs.15,000/- is
being provided as revolving fund which helps
to accelerate the group corpus for internal
lending and to facilitate their access to higher
credits through banks.

During the year 2024-25, 10,000 SHGs

were given Revolving Fund to the tune of
Rs.15.00 crore. TNSRLM will continue to

37
provide Revolving Fund to the eligible SHGs
for the year 2025-26.

5.1.5.2 Community Investment Fund

(CIF)
Community Investment Fund (CIF) is
being provided to those SHGs who are willing
to take up economic activities after one year
of group formation through their Panchayat
Level Federations. The PLF releases CIF to
the SHGs within their panchayats based on
their demand of members to take up
livelihood activities and based on their prior
repayment track record.

PLFs sanction CIF to the SHGs at a

maximum of 9% interest up to Rs.1.50 lakh
per SHG. On repayment of CIF by the SHGs,
it is rotated among other SHGs by the PLFs
where there is a demand. From 2022-23, the
release of funds to the PLFs for CIF is only

38
through Fund Disbursement Module (FDM) of
the NRLM portal.

An announcement was made by the

Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister during
2024-25 to provide Community Investment
Fund to 7,000 SHGs which has surpassed to
11,532 SHGs, to the tune of Rs.172.06 crore.
Community Investment Fund will be provided
to the eligible SHGs through PLF for the year
2025-26 also.

5.1.5.3 Monitoring of Community

Investment Fund:
Demand Collection and Balance (DCB)
of Community Investment Fund collected at
SHG level, Panchayat level federation and
Block level federation is being monitored at
the State and District level. The aim to
monitor it is to ensure that SHGs form a
habit of utilising the loan amount judiciously
and returning back the amount with a sense

39
of discipline. In the process, the corpus fund
with PLF also increases year after year
making it a Stronger Federation.

5.1.5.4 Vulnerability Reduction Fund

(VRF):
Vulnerability Reduction Fund (VRF) is a
corpus fund given through PLF to VPRC,
which is a committee of 11 to 19 members
with representatives from target households
such as Very poor, Poor, Differently abled,
Vulnerable and Tribals.

VRF is given to VPRC through PLF up to

a maximum of Rs.25,000 at a lower rate of
interest of not more than 6%, in order to
address vulnerabilities like food, insecurity,
health risk, sudden sickness/hospitalization,
natural calamity, etc., faced by the
households.

40
 During the year 2024-25, an amount of
Rs.55.83 crore as Vulnerability Reduction
Fund was given to 5,687 Village Poverty
Reduction Committees through Panchayat
Level Federation as 1st phase. Vulnerability
Reduction Fund will also be provided to the
vulnerable individuals in the ensuing year.

5.2 Capacity Building

Capacity building is the key to
community development and is achieved
through sustained efforts to improve the
capability of SHG and its federation
members.

5.2.1 Capacity Building to Community

Based Organizations (CBOs):
Capacity Building is being provided to
the staff of the Project at all levels and to
Community Based Organizations. The pro-
poor organizations such as SHGs, PLFs,

41
VPRCs, BLFs, MaKaMai (Makkal Kattral
Maiyam) etc., are provided with necessary
trainings to achieve the Mission objectives.
Governance and financial management are
given prime focus during training to the
CBOs. Capacity Building trainings are being
provided in the following areas:
• Training to the newly formed SHGs
members.
• Training to Animator & Representative
of SHGs.
• Training on Governance and Financial
management to the office bearers of
PLFs.
• Training to PLF Executive Committee
members.
• Training to members and Office bearers
of Block Level Federations.
• Training for the improvement of poorly
graded CBOs.

42
 • Refresher training to all SHG and its
members.
• Refresher training to book keepers of
SHGs, VPRCs, PLFs and BLFs.
5.2.2 Refresher Training:

During 2024- 25, one-day refresher

training has been provided to all SHG
members on governance, finance
Management and leadership under all
components of TNSRLM. About 3,29,000
SHGs in 1,09,678 batches have been trained
with the support of 388 Block Resource
Persons (BRPs). This was monitored through
an online monitoring mechanism –
‘Mathikalam’ portal.
5.2.3 Community cadre of TNSRLM:
Social capital is one of the biggest
assets for any community development
project. TNSRLM has developed various
thematic resource persons at various levels

43
at State, District, Block and Village for
implementing and monitoring the various
components of the project activities.
5.2.4 Makkal Katral Maiyam
(MaKaMai)/CMTCs:

Makkal Katral Maiyams (MaKaMai)

were established in 26 districts by erstwhile
Vazhudhukattovum Project. It was
registered under Tamil Nadu Societies
Registration Act 1975. MaKaMai is an
organization which comprised of skilled and
experienced community professionals from
villages, who have proven track record of
rendering services in implementation of
poverty reduction programs. Now, these
MaKaMai also act as a Community Managed
Training Centres (CMTCs) for taking up of all
capacity building training of CBOs.

44
5.3 Financial Inclusion and Access to
Bank Credit

Financial Inclusion is the process of

ensuring access of the rural poor to
appropriate financial products and services at
an affordable cost. Tamil Nadu Corporation for
Development of Women facilitates the women
in SHGs to access the services like, opening of
saving bank accounts, access to adequate
bank credit, coverage under insurance and
Pension products.

5.3.1 Financial literacy:

Financial literacy provides knowledge

and skills to SHG members in order to help
them make decisions about savings,
expenditures, investments, credit and
insurance and other financial services such
as remittances, pension in structured
manner.

45
The key components under this initiative are,

i) Financial Planning: To understand

the financial needs of a member based
on needs, wants etc.

ii) Savings: where to save, how to save,

activating individual saving bank
account, transaction through individual
savings bank account etc.

iii) Credit: availing Bank Loan, its

effective use, awareness on Non-
Performing Assets, etc.

iv) Spreading Insurance literacy:

facilitating enrolment in various Union
and State Government Insurance
schemes & other insurance products.

v) Pension: Need for long term financial

planning and facilitating access to
various pension schemes.

46
 vi) Digital Finance: Promoting cashless
system and door-step delivery of
financial services through Business
Correspondents & other channels.

vii) Financing of women-led

enterprises: Enabling the individual
women SHG members to access bank
credit for graduating themselves as
entrepreneurs.

To educate and improve the financial

literacy among Women SHG members and to
propagate the concept of various financial
products 2,758 Financial Literacy Community
Resource Persons (FLCRPs) have been
trained till 31.01.25 and provided with a
training tool kit in Tamil containing flip
charts, trainers hand book, printed games
material, etc. These FLCRPs have conducted
11,425 camps during 2024-25, there by
educating 5.55 Lakh SHG members.

47
 Since, financial literacy has to bring
behavioural change among SHG members,
repeated trainings are required and hence
financial literacy camps will be conducted
during 2025-26 also.

5.3.2 SHG - Bank Linkage Programme

The SHG Bank linkage programme has

connected SHG women with the Banking
system and has been promoting financial
inclusion in a big way. TNCDW has taken up
the task of promoting financial inclusion
among rural poor through SHG - Bank
Linkage Programme (SHG-BLP) in Tamil
Nadu. It ensures easy access to credit at an
affordable rate of interest to the Self Help
Groups and its members.

The eligibility criteria for SHGs to avail

loans under the SHG-BLP Programme are:

48
 • SHGs should be in active existence for
at least 6 months as per their books of
accounts (and not from the date of
opening of S/B account)
• SHGs should be practicing
‘Panchasutras’ i.e., regular meetings,
regular savings, regular internal
lending, timely repayment and regular
book-keeping.
• SHGs should qualify as per grading
norms fixed by NABARD.

The existing defunct SHGs are also

eligible for credit provided they are revived
and continue to be active for a minimum
period of three months.

SHGs can avail Term Loan or Cash

Credit Limit (CCL) or both based on their
need. Term Loan is repayable in fixed
instalments. Cash Credit Limit (CCL) is an
operative limit sanctioned with a minimum of

49
Rs.6 lakhs for a period of 3 years with annual
Drawing Power (DP).

To encourage the matured SHGs to

avail higher quantum of loans from Banks,
Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units
(CGFMU) loan scheme is available for credit
needs above Rs.10 lakhs and up to Rs.20
lakhs. SHGs have to pay a Guarantee fee of
0.25% on the loan amount in the 1st year
and 0.50 % on the outstanding amount in
the subsequent years. Banks will be
compensated to the tune of 75% of the
default amount in case the loan becomes
NPA thus encouraging Banks to lend with less
risk.

PLFs are also promoted as “financial

intermediaries” to meet the credit needs of
SHG members. They are extended with Bulk
Loans from banks. PLFs lend to SHGs at a
flexible rate of interest and thus prevent

50
them from falling prey to private money
lenders charging exorbitant rates of interest.

The State has ensured 21,392.52 crore

of financial linkage during 2021-22,
Rs.25,642.01 crore in 2022-23 and
Rs.30,074.76 crore during 2023-24 under
SHG-BLP and surpassed the target given for
the respective years.

During 2024-25, 4,71,974 SHGs have

received Rs.34,200.12 crore credit assistance
till date under SHG-BLP as against the target
of Rs.35,000 crore, with an average loan size
of 7.22 lakh.

During 2025-26 also, steps will be

taken to credit link all the eligible SHGs.

5.3.2.1 Interest Subvention to SHGs

An uniform interest subvention scheme
for women SHGs across all districts is being
implemented from 2022-23. Under the

51
uniform interest subvention scheme, women
SHGs under TNSRLM only will be eligible to
get interest subvention in the following
pattern:

• For loans up to Rs.3.00 lakh - Banks

including Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)
and Cooperative banks will extend credit
at concessional interest rate of 7% per
annum.

• For loans above Rs.3 lakhs and up to

Rs.5 lakhs – Banks including RRBs and
Cooperative banks will extend credit at
interest rate equivalent to their one year
MCLR or 10% per annum whichever is
low.

In order to avail the interest

subvention for credit extended to women
SHGs, it is ensured at the Bank level that the
SHG accounts (both savings and loans) are

52
identified in the Core Banking System (CBS)
with unique codes assigned under the Rural
Livelihood Mission.

5.3.3 Insurance and Pension Schemes:

The universal coverage of SHG

members under Life, Accident and Health
insurance scheme is one of the top most
priority of the Government to provide safety
net to SHG households and protect them
from various vulnerabilities.

Wide promotional activities like wall

painting in all the Panchayats have been
undertaken to create awareness and cover all
eligible SHG members under PMJJBY, PMSBY,
PMJAY and APY for coverage under Life,
Accident and Health Insurance scheme and
Pension scheme for mitigating the risks.

The SHG members trained as

Community Bank Co-coordinators (CBCs) are

53
effectively deployed in the field to enroll all
eligible SHG members under the above
schemes.

23.17 Lakh SHG members were

enrolled under life cover, 33.40 Lakh under
accident cover, 2.47 Lakh under health
insurance cover and 1.81 Lakh under APY
pension scheme during 2024-25.

37 claims under accident insurance and

169 claims under life insurance were settled
during the year 2024-25 and the insured
amount is provided to the nominee of the
deceased SHG member, thus ensuring
financial safety to their families.

Insurance enrolment and claim

settlement will be given more focus during
2025-26.

54
5.3.4 Mission One Gram Panchayat One
Business Correspondent:

Mission One GP One BC is a program

for engaging the members of women Self
Help Group (SHG) as Business
Correspondents (BCs) to provide basic
banking services in the rural areas.

TNSRLM identifies the eligible members

from SHGs, train them at RSETIs, enable
them to be certified by Indian Institute of
Banking and Finance (IIBF), Mumbai and
facilitate them to be engaged as BCs by the
Corporate BCs of banks.

640 Women SHG members were

trained during 2024-25 and positioned across
the state as BCs in various Banks

During 2025-26, 500 SHG members

will be facilitated and engaged as BC Sakhi in
various Banks.

55
5.3.5 Financing of Women Led
Enterprise:

The SHG Bank linkage programme has

given tremendous opportunities for the poor
women to explore and utilize their potential
through access to financial services. The
experience of the successful enterprises and
businesses by many group members has
provided confidence to other members to
commence and expand the business
activities. But they could not grow more or
expand further due to limited availability of
credit. Hence, initiative has been taken to
facilitate women entrepreneurs in SHGs to
avail higher quantum of credit from banks at
an affordable rate of interest with minimum
loan processing procedure.

56
5.3.5.1 Eligibility:

Loan applications will be sourced from the

SHGs fulfilling the following criteria

➢ SHG should be in active existence for

minimum 2 years.
➢ SHG should have successfully
completed at least 1 bank loan cycle
with timely repayment.

5.3.5.2 Eligible enterprises-

The following enterprises are eligible under

this:

❖ All enterprises engaged in agriculture

and allied activities except subsistence
agriculture activities
❖ Agro Based and Food Processing
Industry (ABFPI)
❖ Mineral Based Industry (MBI)
❖ Wellness & Cosmetics Industry (WCI)

57
 ❖ Hand Made Paper, Leather and Plastic
Industry (HMPLPI)
❖ Rural Engineering and New Technology
Industry (RENTI)
❖ Service Industry
5.3.5.3 Benefits under Women Enterprise
Acceleration Fund scheme
i) Reimbursement of Credit Guarantee
fees to lending institutions
The actual cost of credit guarantee fees
will be reimbursed to banks/ lending
institutions for providing loans to individual
women SHG members under DAY-NRLM for
loans up to 5 Lakh for a maximum period of 5
years.
ii) Interest Subvention on Prompt
Repayment
Upon prompt repayment of credit, interest
subvention @ 2% will be provided to SHGs on
loan outstanding up to ₹1.5 lakh per

58
borrower. Interest subvention will be provided
to individual women entrepreneur up to a
maximum duration of 3 years.
All the above benefits will be provided to
an Individual only once.
During 2024-25, 34,839 women
entrepreneurs were facilitated to receive
credit assistance from banks for Rs.392.15 Cr.
Self-help group members will be
provided enterprise loans to expand
enterprise activities during 2025-26.

5.4 Social Interventions through

Partnership and Convergence

Under Social Inclusion and Social

Development, it is ensured that no
poor/vulnerable family is left out and there is
special focus on priority and inclusion of
poorest of the poor and other vulnerable
sections of the communities into the TNSRLM
by formation of special SHGs. TNSRLM has

59
been making convergence efforts with other
Government Departments and its schemes
aim at achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), and Localization
of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs)
more particularly with PRIs to establish
women friendly, child friendly, Differently
abled friendly, Vulnerable friendly village
panchayats etc.,

5.4.1 Social Inclusion and Social

Development (SISD)

Systematic approach has been

undertaken to identify and mobilize the left-
out, vulnerable and marginalized households
by bringing together as Special SHGs and
orient them to save regularly, to conduct
regular meetings and to start livelihood
activities based on their areas of interest.
The Elderly, Persons with disabilities,
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

60
(PVTGs), Scheduled Tribes (STs),
Transgenders etc., are formed into Special
SHGs with 5 to 8 members in each SHG
under TNSRLM. The Special SHGs are given
Revolving Funds and one-year-old ESHGs,
PWD SHGs are given Rs.1 lakh each for
promotion of Economic Activities.

5.4.1.1 Need Assessment Camps:

To identify the special needs and

requirement of Elderly, Persons with
disabilities, and Transgenders, Need
Assessment Camps are being conducted
twice in a year at the Block level in
convergence with line departments
concerned and scheme benefits of various
Government programmes are facilitated for
the marginalized and vulnerable households.
During 2024-25, 2 need assessment camps
per block have been conducted in 388 blocks
of 37 districts at a cost of Rs.38.80 lakhs.

61
 During the year 2025-2026 also, Need
Assessment Camps will be conducted in all
Blocks.

5.4.1.2. Mental Health Program

Mental Health Program have been

implemented in 6,083 Village Panchayats of
200 Blocks across the State during 2024-25.
Apart from training, capacity building,
identification of persons with psychological
issues and providing counselling, referral and
follow-up have been done in convergence
with Health Department and DMPH
appropriately at the District Level.

The State Resource person, District

Resource persons, Block Resource persons
and Community Resource Persons have been
trained by Medical Experts, Psychiatrists from
Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk and
SCARF Foundation, Chennai. 3.31 Lakh self-

62
help group’s Animator & Representative in
200 Blocks have been trained on the Mental
health issues like Depression, Anxiety, Other
Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder (OCD), Hysteria, Epilepsy etc. In
this regard, training manual has been
prepared and circulated to the districts to
enable capacity building of field functionaries
and CBOs.

During the year 2025-2026, more

blocks will be covered with training and
capacity building of SHG Animator and
Representatives in mental health and
awareness creation will be done for school
and college Boys & Girls including intensive
awareness and campaign on the Drugs and
Alcoholism.

63
5.4.1.3 J-Pal Studies

TNCDW made Partnership with J-Pal to

conduct Pilot study on the Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for the Elderly
women SHGs formed under SISD in 2 Blocks
of Trichy District in the year 2023-24. Now, it
is expanded to another 7 Blocks in 3 Districts
of Dharmapuri, Trichy and Tiruvannamalai
covering 239 Village panchayats during
2024-25. In these studies, elderly woman
were given laughter therapy for their mental
well-being and physical exercises were given
to keep them in good health.

5.4.2 Food, Nutrition, Health & WASH

(FNHW)

Over the last 3 years, a solid foundation

has been laid through continuous awareness
generation at the grass-root level
consistently to improve the nutritional status

64
of lactating mothers, elderly and
malnourished children through Community
Based Organisations (CBOs). It creates
behavioural changes among the Self Help
Group members for consuming diverse diet
to accomplish the aim of anaemia and
malnutrition free Tamil Nadu. Further, 16
modules of training manual and guidebook
for FNHW have been developed and
distributed to the field level field officials for
capacity building of functionaries and CBOs.

5.4.2.1 Orientation on FNHW to SHG

(A & R)
During the year 2024-25, 3.31 lakh
Self Help Group’s animators &
representatives in 188 selected Blocks have
been oriented on Food, Nutrition, Health and
WASH - (Water sanitation & Hygiene) at a
cost of Rs.2.32 Crores. Further, during the
year 2025-26, the animator and

65
representative of SHGs in additional blocks
will be oriented in FNHW awareness.

5.4.2.2 FNHW Awareness Campaign

To necessitate and localise the

significance of consuming nutritious foods
and to reduce anaemia among the rural
women, Food, Nutrition, Health and WASH
(FNHW) Awareness Campaign was conducted
at panchayat/block/district level in the year
2024-25 for the benefit of rural women and
adolescent girls at a cost of Rs.1.75 crores.
Based on the success of the campaign, the
FNHW Awareness Campaigns will be
conducted in the year 2025-2026.

5.4.2.3 Menstrual Hygiene Management

Programme (MHM)
Menstrual Hygiene Management
Programme (MHM) has been implemented to
create awareness among SHG women in 388

66
Blocks and Schools & College children and to
take precautionary action on issues related to
Menstrual Health Management, Cervical
cancer etc. Further, MHM Councils and MHM
Knowledge Centres were formed to facilitate
for creating awareness among the Adolescent
Girls, and SHG Women through various
programmes and competitions conducted for
the benefit of the children/women. Training
materials have been developed and
distributed to the districts towards
developing master trainers, functionaries and
training of CBOs.

So far 13,280 schools, 2,080 Colleges

and 19,160 batches of girls/SHG women are
covered with the awareness training. During
the year 2025-26, the MHM awareness will
be conducted for the left over college /
school girls.

67
5.4.2.4 Convergence Initiatives under
FNHW:

5.4.2.4.1. Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam

(MTM)

The Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam (MTM)

programme is being implemented by the
Health and Family Welfare Department under
National Health Mission through the TNCDW
for screening of Non-Communicable Diseases
(NCD) by engaging Women from Self Help
Groups as Women Health Volunteers (WHV).
There are 8,713 Women Health Volunteers
attached with Health Sub-Centres (HSC) in
rural areas. The Women Health Volunteers
(WHV) provide counselling and deliver
medicines to the chronic patients at their
door step.

68
5.4.2.4.2 Chief Minister’s Breakfast
Scheme (CMBFS)
The pioneering CMBFS program for
primary school children is being implemented
by the Social Welfare and Women
Empowerment Department in partnership
with Tamil Nadu Corporation for
Development of Women in all Government
and Government Aided Primary schools. The
PLFs/ALFs identify the SHG women for
engaging them as “kitchen in charge” for
cooking Breakfast in rural and town
panchayat areas. The SHG members being
mothers of children studying in the same
school are engaged as Kitchen in-charge.
Around 50,895 SHG Members are actively
involved in the cooking and serving of
breakfast in 32,375 schools in rural and town
panchayat areas. The SHG women also enter
the data on breakfast cooked and served

69
details in CMBFS Mobile App for effective
monitoring at State/District level. This has
also created a means of additional livelihood
support for the SHG women.

During the year 2024-25, Rs.13.81

lakhs have been utilized towards “Refresher
training” to all SHG “Kitchen in charge”
across the state under the Chief Minister's
Breakfast Scheme.

5.4.3 Gender Interventions

TNSRLM has taken various efforts to

prevent Child Marriage, Domestic Violence
against women, Child Sexual Abuse, etc. One
member in each SHG is identified as Gender
Point Person (GPP), who carry out all
activities and awareness about the gender
interventions undertaken by TNSRLM. 158
Gender Resource Centres (palina vala
maiyam) have been established in 37

70
districts in the last 2 years to resolve gender
related issues and to create awareness
among the CBOs and SHG women. Further,
16 modules of training manuals and
guidebooks have been developed to train the
master trainers, field functionaries, Gender
Institutional Mechanisms like, Block Level
Gender Forum, community cadres, Gender
Point Persons, PLF Social Action Committees,
Animators & Representatives of SHGs, GRC
functionaries, etc.

In the last 3 years, Gender Institutional

Mechanisms such as Gender Point Person
(GPP), Gender Collectives, Panchayat Level
Federation (Social Action Committee) Block
Level Gender Forum (BLGF) and Gender
Resource Centres (GRCs) have been
developed and strengthened and addressed
several issues related to women and
children. There is a convergence effort taken

71
by TNCDW with social welfare and women
empowerment department to address these
issues jointly. In 2025-26 Gender Resource
Centres (GRCs) will be established in
additional blocks in the state.

5.4.3.1 Gender Campaign 3.0

During the year 2024-25, campaign

against Gender Based Violence 3.0 was
conducted under five themes, namely, child
marriage, child sexual abuse, domestic
violence, Drug & Alcoholism, enhancement of
female child birth ratio where the members
of SHGs, Panchayat Level Federations, Block
Level Federations, PLF-Social Action
Committees, Gender Point Persons, school &
college boys and girls in large numbers have
participated in various campaigns like Rallies,
Human Chain, candle light walk,
competitions, sports activities, etc., across
12,525 Gram Panchayats in 388 Blocks

72
across the State at a cost of Rs. 4.37 Crore.
The State was leading in the country with
2.69 Lakh entries in the MIS for GBV 3.0.

5.4.3.2 Legal Act Training

In order to create awareness about 23

types of legal Acts like POSH, Marriage Acts,
Indian Constitution, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
(BNS), POCSO, Prohibition of Child Marriage
Act, etc. Manual on Legal Acts is printed and
Awareness / orientation done for nearly
35,000 staff, officers at District, Block level
So far, 3.76 Lakh members have been
trained from 12,525 PLFs, Community
Resource Persons, CSTs, Executive members
of PLF, BLF etc.

5.4.4 PRI - CBO Convergence

Panchayat Raj Institution - Community
Based Organisations (PRI-CBOs)
Convergence creates synergy between PRIs

73
and CBOs, working together in achieving the
objectives of Localization of Sustainable
Development Goals (LSDGs). The Panchayat
Raj Institutions at the Village and Block level
play an important role in the selection of the
beneficiaries for various Government
schemes. PRI functionaries, PLF and BLF
members are given effective training and
capacity building for the preparation of VPRP
Plans.

5.4.4.1 Village Prosperity Resilience

Plan:
Under PRI-CBO Convergence initiative,
all SHGs and their Federations have been
mandated to prepare Village Prosperity
Resilience Plan (VPRP) under four
components:

i) Entitlement Plan
ii) Livelihood Plan

74
 iii) Public Goods, Services and
Resource Development Plan
iv) Social Development Plan
In the last three years, the above plans
have been prepared in 12,524 Village
Panchayats which have been integrated with
the Gram Panchayat Development Plans
(GPDPs) so as to deliver the services through
PRI and line departments. Consistent efforts
have been taken by TNCDW to realise the
demands raised in the VPRP plan through
convergence with RD and other line
departments.

5.4.4.2 PRI-CBO Universalization

Strategy:
The PRI-CBO Universalization Strategy
aims to develop convergence between the
local self-government and CBO network. It
enhances the poor women to participate
actively in the planning process and Local

75
Self Government (LSG). The Programme has
been implemented on pilot basis for a period
of 18 months in 1,963 village panchayats in
75 blocks of 6 districts, namely Dharmapuri,
Salem, Thanjavur, Theni, Tirunelveli and
Tiruchirappalli. Universalization strategy aims
for a structured implementation in capturing
the needs of the community and fulfilling the
demands. During the year 2025-26, it is
proposed to be expanded in 4,224 Village
Panchayats of 111 Blocks in 10 Districts
across the State, namely, Ariyalur
Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore,
Tiruvallur, Thiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri,
Namakkal, Tenkasi and Virudhunagar.

5.5 Livelihood Promotion

Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihood

Mission is aimed at increasing the
employment opportunity among rural SHG
women, through implementation of various

76
livelihood interventions viz., Farm, Non-Farm
and Marketing activities. Different modern
methods are being deployed to support the
SHG women to produce quality farm and
non-farm products to reach consumer
markets for fetching remunerative price for
their products.

All these Livelihood promotion

programmes will ultimately enhance their
income, thereby empowering them in
technological, economic and social aspects.

5.5.1 Farm Livelihood activities and

Interventions
Two types of Farm activities namely
farm and off-farm are being implemented to
promote Agro-Ecological practices like
Natural farming, Integrated farming etc.,
encompassing crop cultivation and animal
husbandry activities. To ensure aggregation
of produce, value addition and collective

77
marketing, cluster approach is being adopted
in almost all farm activities.

5.5.1.1 Coverage of area under Farm

Livelihoods activities
Farm livelihood interventions are
promoted across the State to upscale the gap
between income of women SHGs in the
urban and rural areas. Sincere efforts have
been taken since inception to gradually cover
381 blocks in all districts except Chennai
under farm livelihood interventions. Out of
the 388 Blocks, 381 blocks have been taken
up under TNSRLM upto 2024-25 barring
seven urbanized blocks in four districts.

5.5.1.2 Farm interventions

Various farm interventions were

implemented in 2024-25 in convergence with
Departments of Agriculture, Horticulture,
Sugars, Forest, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries,

78
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil
Nadu University for Animal Science to ensure
effective coordination at all levels.

Under each livelihood intervention,

efforts have been taken to impart training on
the modern methods and technologies and
encouraged SHG women to adopt them by
extending revolving fund on cluster basis.

5.5.1.2.1 Production of Tall variety

quality coconut seedlings
Coconut, an important commercial
crop, in the state, is promoted through SHG
members in the form of seedling production.
Training was imparted to the members in the
production of quality coconut seedlings and
production have started in the last year. 723
SHG women from 241 blocks were trained by
Horticulture Department at State Coconut
Nurseries during 2023-24.

79
 In 2024-25, members from 60 Self
Help Groups were given Rs.4 lakhs to
produce quality tall coconut seedlings at an
outlay of Rs.2.40 crores.

In 2025-26, efforts will be taken for

distribution of Coconut seedlings produced by
SHG women in close coordination with
Horticulture Department.

5.5.1.2.2 Sugarcane chip bud seedling

production units
Chip bud seedling technology is a
method of producing seedlings in a
controlled environment using the pro-tray
method, which are later transplanted into
the main field to maximize yield in
sugarcane cultivation. In convergence
with the Sugar Department, members of
Self-Help Groups have been trained and
engaged in the production and

80
distribution of well-nurtured sugarcane
seedlings.

In 2024-25, 50 sugarcane chip bud

seedling production units have been
established in five districts viz. Cuddalore,
Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi
and Vellore at an outlay of Rs.1 crore.
Shade nets have been installed and
production of seedlings is in progress.

In 2025-26, efforts will be taken for

distribution of sugarcane chip bud seedlings
produced by SHG women in close
coordination with Cooperative and private
Sugar mills and continue the production of
sugarcane seedlings by reinvesting the
income generated.

81
5.5.1.2.3 Seed production clusters

Supply of quality seed plays a key role

in increasing crop yield. To promote
availability of quality seeds, SHG women
farmers are encouraged to take up seed
production in convergence with Agriculture
Department and Seed Certification
Department, thus ensuring supply of quality
seeds.
In 2024-25, 100 Seed production
clusters have been taken up in pulses and oil
seeds at an outlay of Rs.2 crores.
In 2025-26, this scheme will be
continued by giving focus on pulses seed
multiplication.
5.5.1.2.4 Honey bee clusters

Bee keeping is an important livelihood

activity for SHG women farmers which
provides them additional income and helps in
natural farming.

82
 In 2024-25, cluster approach is
followed in the implementation of Honey bee
clusters with 20 members of Self-Help Group
women form a cluster. 74 Honey bee
clusters have been formed in 37 districts at
an outlay of Rs.2.22 crores.

In 2025-26, honey bee clusters will be

closely followed for ensuring regular
collection of honey from these clusters.

5.5.1.2.5 Goat Rearing Clusters

Goats are considered as poor man’s

cow and little care with very little investment
is required in rearing of goats and hence this
livelihood activity ensures substantial
earnings and ensure nutritional security at
the household level.

In 2024-25, adopting cluster of 20

women each were formed for taking up the
activity of Goat rearing. Each woman

83
member is given with 9 female kids and one
male kid. 74 goat rearing clusters have been
formed in 37 districts at an outlay of
Rs.14.80 crores.

In 2025-26, further goat rearing

clusters will be developed.

5.5.1.2.6 Establishment of Community

Farm Schools (CFS)
To provide field-level hands-on training
and disseminate practical knowledge to SHG
women, Community Farm Schools were
established, where a lead farmer from the
same village conducts training. Field
demonstrations are conducted throughout
the crop period, enabling SHG women
farmers to gain practical knowledge of
modern farming practices.

84
 In 2024-25, 500 Community Farm
Schools have been setup at a cost of Rs.5
Crores.

In 2025-26, the women farmers

trained in these Community Farm Schools
will be utilized for imparting training to other
fellow farmers along with lead farmers.

5.5.1.2.7 Turmeric clusters

Turmeric, also known as ‘Indian
saffron,’ is used as a condiment, dye,
medicine, and cosmetic, as well as in
religious ceremonies. The turmeric grown in
Tamil Nadu is known for its high curcumin
content. To enhance yield and market
visibility, the promotion of turmeric clusters
has been envisioned.

In 2024-25, cluster approach was

followed in the implementation of turmeric
cultivation and value addition with 20
members of Self-Help Group formed into a

85
cluster. Two such clusters have been
established in two districts viz. Salem and
Erode at an outlay of Rs.0.40 Crore.

In 2025-26, steps will be taken to

sustain aggregation and value addition of
turmeric in these clusters and market the
value added products through various
marketing avenues.

5.5.1.2.8 Pulses clusters

Pulses cultivation promotes sustainable
agriculture requiring less water, having a
shorter growing period, and improving soil
health. Rich in protein, fiber, various
vitamins, and amino acids, pulses serve as a
valuable dietary source for all age groups.

In 2024-25, 50 members of Self-Help

Group have been mobilized as a pulses
cluster. Three such clusters have been
established in Mayiladuthurai, Pudukkottai
and Thanjavur at an outlay of Rs.0.60 Crore.

86
 In 2025-26, steps will be taken to
sustain aggregation and value addition of
pulses in these clusters and market the value
added products through various marketing
avenues.

5.5.1.2.9 Non-Timber Forest Products

Clusters
Non-Timber Forest Products include a
variety of foods, substances, and
commodities such as nuts, seeds, berries,
mushrooms, oils, sap, foliage, medicinal
plants, fuelwood, and spices sourced from
forests, excluding timber. Collection of these
products is primarily done by SHG women
and play a vital role in their livelihoods.
Aggregation, value addition, and enhanced
market visibility can increase the value of
these products, leading to better economic
opportunities for them.

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 In 2024-25, 50 interested members of
women Self-Help Group were mobilized into
a cluster. Nine clusters have been
established in Coimbatore, Dindigul,
Namakkal, Nilgiris and Tiruvannamalai at a
total outlay of Rs.0.90 Crore.

In 2025-26, aggregation and value

addition of these non-timber forest products
will be strengthened in these clusters.

5.5.1.2.10 Tamarind clusters

Tamarind is a tropical fruit with

various nutritional benefits and is cultivated
in many parts of the state. Women,
especially in rural areas, are actively involved
in pulp extraction, deseeding, and producing
tamarind-based products such as sauces,
pastes, and candies. Processing and value
addition for the local market further enhance
its economic potential. Organizing women

88
into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for tamarind
aggregation, processing, and marketing not
only boosts their income but also promotes
entrepreneurship and strengthens their
financial independence.
In 2024-25, 50 members of Self-Help
Group were mobilized into a cluster. Three
clusters have been established in
Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Theni at a total
outlay of Rs.0.60 Crore.

In 2025-26, efforts will be taken to

strengthen the aggregation and processing of
tamarind in these clusters and bring the
tamarind products to various marketing
avenues across the State.

5.5.1.2.11 Banana Clusters

Banana is valued for its flavour,
nutritional benefits, and year-round
availability. To improve the livelihoods of

89
women, especially in rural areas, promoting
banana-based enterprises can create
sustainable income opportunities. Women
can engage in various value-added activities
such as banana chip production, banana flour
processing, banana-based snack making, and
utilizing banana fibre for handicrafts.
Additionally, training in post-harvest
management, packaging, and branding can
enhance market access and increase
profitability, leading to greater financial
independence for women.

In 2024-25, 50 members of Self-Help

Groups (SHGs) have been organized into
cluster. Three clusters have been formed in
Theni, Trichy, and Thoothukudi, with a total
outlay of Rs. 0.60 Crores.

In 2025-26, efforts will be taken to

increase the number of value added banana
products from these banana clusters and

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increase their sale through various marketing
avenues.

5.5.1.2.12 Establishment of Tool banks.

Agricultural implements play a crucial

role in enhancing farm productivity and
easing the burden of manual labour,
especially for women farmers. For women
farmers, the availability of user-friendly farm
tools helps in tasks such as land preparation,
sowing, weeding, harvesting, and post-
harvest processing, enabling them to
manage their farms more effectively.
In 2024-25, 456 tool banks have been
established across 114 blocks, at a total
outlay of Rs.6.84 Crores.

In 2025-26, steps will be taken to

effectively utilize the farm equipment
purchased in these tool banks and
strengthen the rental activities in rural areas.

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5.5.2 Non-Farm Livelihood Activities

Livelihood activities that promote

manufacturing, trading and service sectors
provide significant income-generation
opportunities for Self-Help Group (SHG)
women. Encouraging non-farm interventions
enables women to diversify their economic
activities, reduce dependency on agriculture,
and achieve financial stability. This
intervention focuses on uplifting existing
enterprises and fostering new ones through
the following programs:

i) Micro Enterprise Development (MED)

ii) Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship
Programme (SVEP)
iii) One Stop Facility Centres (OSF)
iv) Cluster Development – Artisan &
Sectoral
v) Community Skill School (CSS)

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 vi) Prime Minister’s Formalisation of Micro
Food Processing Enterprises Scheme
(PMFME)

5.5.2.1 Micro Enterprises Development

Micro-Enterprise Development
Programme aims to support Self-Help Groups
(SHGs) and their family members in
establishing micro-enterprises in the non-
farm sector. The scheme provides both
entrepreneurial training and financial
support, with funding sourced from the
Community Investment Fund and loans from
banks or financial institutions.
In 2024-25, the programme was
implemented across 8 blocks in 8 districts,
supporting 1,050 new enterprises and 350
existing enterprises by providing business
skills, financial literacy, and market
knowledge at the outlay of Rs.0.36 Crore.

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 In 2025-26, this programme will be
extended to further blocks.

5.5.2.2 Start-Up Village

Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP)

The programme is designed to assist

the rural poor in establishing new enterprises
and expanding existing ones. It provides
support through Community Resource
Persons (Enterprise Promotion) mentorship in
preparation of business plan and mobilisation
of financial assistance. Programme is
implemented from 2019 and so far 4 blocks
have been covered under this.
In 2024-25, one block was approved
for implementation at a total outlay of Rs.
6.5 Crores.
In 2025-26, this programme is
proposed to be implemented in additional
blocks.

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5.5.2.3 One Stop Facility Centres (OSF)
One Stop Facility Centres function as
business facilitation hubs to support nano
and micro enterprises by offering
comprehensive business development
services including conceptualization, ideation,
and initiation for new enterprises and skill
training, value chain linkages, and finance
facilitation through mentorship for the
existing enterprises.

In 2024-25, One Stop Facility centres

were established in 15 blocks across 6
districts to promote 2,250 enterprises at an
outlay of Rs.4.61 Crore.

In 2025-26, this programme is

proposed to be implemented in additional
blocks.

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5.5.2.4 Cluster Development – Artisan &
Sectoral Clusters.

Cluster development aims to empower

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) by increasing their
income through cost reduction, technical
support, strengthened bargaining power, and
economies of scale. Women entrepreneurs
from various sectors are grouped into
clusters and receive financial assistance for
infrastructure development and working
capital.

In 2024-25, scoping study was

approved for 2 clusters, and a detailed
project report (DPR) is under preparation.

In 2025-26, promotional efforts will be

taken up in these two clusters.

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5.5.2.5 Community Skill School (CSS)

Community-based training schools have

been established in all districts, with each
batch comprising 20 members. Training
through on-site methodology by experienced
local master practitioners who runs
successful enterprises. These schools provide
a supportive environment, instilling
confidence in trainees to explore their
potential. They also offer practical insights
into managing challenges while running an
enterprise, ensuring participants gain hands-
on experience and problem-solving skills.
In 2024-25, 1,000 Community Skills
Schools were established, providing training
to 17,000 Self-Help Group members at an
outlay of Rs.9.97 Crores.
In 2025-26, this scheme will be continued.

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5.5.2.6 Prime Minister’s Formalisation of
Micro Food Processing Enterprises
Scheme (PMFME)

The scheme helps micro-enterprises in

the unorganized food processing industry to
formalise and transition into formal
framework thus enhancing their competitive
skills. The funding under seed capital helps
the women enterprises to purchase small
tools and equipment, improve the quality of
product packaging, thus have better market
access.

In 2024-25, 16,000 food-related

enterprises led by Self-Help Groups were
recommended to the State Nodal Agency for
seed capital funding at an outlay of Rs.66.22
Crores.

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 In 2025-26, steps will be taken to
provide seed capital to more enterprises.

5.5.3 Marketing of Products of Self Help

Group Women

Marketing is a key strategy to promote

the products and services of Women Self-
Help Groups by enhancing brand awareness
through advertising campaigns, exhibitions,
and e-commerce initiatives. Strict adherence
to standardization protocols ensures that
SHG products maintain quality assurance. A
brand name ‘Mathi’ has been developed, with
a strong focus on consistent packaging and
labelling compliance to enhance market
visibility and build consumer trust.

99
5.5.3.1 Promotional Activities
Various efforts are being made to
promote marketing, with a strong focus on
exhibitions, market linkages, and business-
to-business meetings. Strengthening of
marketing infrastructure has played a key
role in showcasing products and increasing
sales of Women Self-Help Group (SHG)
products, thereby enhancing their market
reach and profitability.

In 2024-25, a sales target of Rs. 300

Crores were envisaged, with an achievement
of Rs. 194.57 Crores.

In 2025-26, these marketing steps will

be strengthened in a systematic manner by
creating new marketing avenues like
e-Commerce, Experience Stores etc.

100
5.5.3.2 Exhibitions and Fairs
Participation of Self-Help Group
members in international, national and
regional-level exhibitions is encouraged to
enhance their understanding of wider market
dynamics. Additionally, state and district-
level exhibitions are organized to help them
navigate urban consumer preferences and
market demand. These platforms provide
valuable exposure, enabling SHGs to refine
their products and expand their reach. SHGs
have also showcased and successfully sold
their products in international exhibitions,
further strengthening their market presence.

In 2024-25, 234 exhibitions were held,

generating sales worth Rs.10.81 crores.

In 2025-26, it is proposed to organize

more exhibitions, fairs and bazaars within
and outside the State.

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5.5.3.3 Natural Bazaars

With growing consumer awareness of

natural products, women farmers are being
encouraged to adopt Natural Farming
techniques using sustainable agricultural
practices. To facilitate marketing and sales of
natural products, ‘Natural Bazaar’ is
organized fortnightly at the State
Headquarters and weekly in various districts,
providing a direct platform for farmers to sell
their produce.

In 2024-25, 58 Natural Bazaars were

held, generating sales worth Rs.6.15 crore.

In 2025-26, Natural Bazaars will be

organized bi-monthly at State level as well as
at District level.

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5.5.3.4 E-Commerce Portal

SHG products are showcased and sold

through e-commerce platforms, highlighting
their traditional craftsmanship, quality, and
uniqueness. Customers worldwide can
purchase these products through the
dedicated website www.mathisandhai.com

In 2024-25, 5,202 products were

uploaded across various multiple commercial
platforms resulting in sales worth Rs. 1.20
Crores.

In 2025-26, it is proposed to
strengthen E-Commerce portal by registering
all District Supply and Marketing Societies as
vendors to upload SHG products in various E-
Commerce platforms.

103
5.5.3.5 Mathi Kiosk and E-cart

Mathi Kiosks are set up in high-footfall

public places to enhance the visibility and
sales of SHG products. Additionally, E-Carts
(mobile vending vehicles) have been
introduced to facilitate the sale of products
from interior and hilly regions and in urban
markets.

In 2024-25, 100 Mobile vending

vehicles (e Cart) and 100 Kiosks generated
sales worth Rs. 5.77 crores.

In 2025-26, Tourist kiosks will be

strengthened for showcasing and sale of SHG
products in major tourist places.

5.5.3.6 Mathi Experience Store

Mathi Experience Store has been

established at the Mother Teresa Women’s
Complex at the office of the Tamil Nadu

104
Corporation for Development of Women. The
store serves as a platform to display and sell
products made by rural and urban Self-Help
Group women by aggregating the products
from various districts. It provides customers
with a touch-and-feel experience, facilitates
bulk orders and helps in expanding market
opportunities for SHG entrepreneurs.

In 2024-25, one more store has been

set up at the Secretariat, further enhancing
accessibility to SHG products. The combined
sales proceeds from both stores amount to
Rs.0.89 Crores.

In response to the good sales achieved

in the mathi-store, the efforts will be
continued for creation of more stores in
various places.

105
5.5.3.7 Buyer Seller Meets

The buyer and seller meet serves as a

structured platform to facilitate direct
business opportunities between buyers and
sellers. These meetings help enterprises run
by Self Help Group to expand market reach
and to enhance sales opportunities through
interactions, showcase their products,
negotiate deals, and build long-term business
relationships. Totally, 551 MoUs have been
signed in 2024-25 with sale worth Rs.5.84
Crore.

In 2025-26, same efforts will be

continued to increase the sale of SHG
products.

5.5.3.8 Millet Cafes

To promote millet consumption and

encourage healthy eating habits, it is
proposed to establish cafes providing food

106
and snacks made from millets in all the
District Collectorates. These cafes provide
the public an easy access to millet-based
value-added products and cooked meals,
thereby supporting nutritious food choices.

In 2024-25, Rs.3.13 Crores worth

millet-based food products have been sold.

Based on the success of Millet cafe in

2024-25, TNCDW will continue its efforts to
establish more millet cafes in 2025-26.

5.5.3.9 Apartment Bazaar

To enhance the market reach of

Women Self-Help Group products, five
Community Resource Persons are being
trained as marketing experts in each district
to facilitate sales in metropolitan cities like
Chennai. These trainers actively promote
SHG products among customers through

107
Apartment Bazaars, creating direct selling
opportunities.

In 2024-25, 20 Apartment Bazaars

were organised and products were sold worth
Rs.0.56 Crore.

In 2025-26, apartments bazaars will be

conducted in various cities.

5.6 Awards

5.6.1. Manimegalai Award for Best

performing SHGs and CBOs in Rural and
Urban areas:
Manimegalai Awards are given to
encourage the SHGs, VPRCs, PLFs, BLFs,
ALFs and CLFs to recognise and appreciate
their participation in the socio-economic
development activities.
At State level, awards are given to 10 Self
Help Groups at Rs.1 lakh each, 5 Panchayat
Level Federations at Rs.3 lakh each, 5 Village

108
Poverty Reduction Committees at Rs.1 lakh
each and Rs. 5 lakh for one BLF in rural
areas and 10 Self Help Groups at Rs.1 lakh
each, 3 Area Level Federations at Rs.3 lakh
each and Rs. 5 lakh for one CLF in urban
areas including citation.
The District level awards for each District
including citation are given to 3 Self Help
Groups at Rs.25,000 each, 1 Panchayat Level
Federation at Rs.1 lakh, 1 Village Poverty
Reduction Committee at Rs.50,000 in rural
areas and 3 Self Help Groups at Rs.25,000
each, 1 Area Level Federation at Rs.1 lakh in
urban areas.
5.6.2 Awards to Best Performing Banks

Best performing Banks and Bank

Branches awards have been instituted by the
Government to honour the Banks that have
shown outstanding performance in SHG –
BLP. This award has motivated the best

109
performers and created a healthy
competition among the Banks and Branches.

During 2023-24, Indian Bank, HDFC &

Tamil Nadu State Apex Cooperative Bank
won Best Performing Bank award and Indian
Bank, Microsate, Vellore & Tamil Nadu Grama
Bank, Londonpet have won award under
Branch Category.

110
6. Skill Training and
Placement

111
112
6.1 Building a Skilled Work Force:
As the world faces a labour shortage,
this is a great opportunity for Tamil Nadu to
transform its demographic surplus into a
demographic dividend through skill
development. The recent industrial boom has
created a significant demand for skilled
manpower, particularly in the manufacturing
and service sectors, offering vast
employment opportunities.
Skill training is essential for tapping
into the opportunities presented by the
growing economy and making unskilled and
semi-skilled youth employable. Tamil Nadu
has always been a leader in industrial
development and has implemented various
schemes for the welfare of its people. To
improve productivity, one of the key focus
areas for Tamil Nadu is the skill development
of its youth.

113
 Tamil Nadu is one of the most
industrialized states in India. The favourable
investment climate fostered by the state
government, along with strong infrastructure
and a solid resource base, has attracted
significant investment from multinational
companies. Despite the high demand for
employment, the shortage of skilled labour
has limited opportunities for rural youth in
the state. Recognizing the gap between the
demand and supply of skilled labour,
programs like DDU-GKY are designed to
provide placement-linked skill training to
rural youth, while Rural Self Employment
Training Institutes (RSETIs) focuses on
creating self-employment opportunities.

114
6.2 Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen
Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY).
DDU-GKY is a skill development
programme for rural poor youth,
implemented by Ministry of Rural
Development, Government of India with
60:40 funding through State Government.
Youth between 18 to 35 years of age are
imparted skill training in various sectors
through empanelled agencies. A key feature
of the scheme is the guaranteed placement
of at least 70% of the trainees.
The scheme mandates social inclusion,
with 62% of beneficiaries from the Scheduled
Castes (SC), 3% from the Scheduled Tribes
(ST), 16% from Minorities, and 33% from
Women (all categories included). The training
courses are aligned with the National Skills
Qualification Framework (NSQF).
Additionally, the training modules include

115
both domain-specific curriculum and
mandatory skill development in soft skills,
such as spoken English and computer basics,
to enhance employability. Upon completing
training and assessment, candidates are
awarded certificates issued by Government
Agency Sector Skill Councils (SSCs).

For the period 2019-2025, 64,721

candidates have completed training and
38,425 candidates have been placed so far.
In the financial year 2024-25, a total of
5,027 candidates have been trained, of which
3,743 have been placed.

The sector wise trained candidates for

the period 2019-2025 details are given
below:

116
Table 6.2. Sector wise Training Details

Sl. Candidates
Sector Name
No. Trained

1 IT-ITES 7,878
Apparel, Made-Ups &
2 7,209
Home Furnishing
3 Electronics 6,944

4 Healthcare 6,862

5 Tourism & Hospitality 5,112

6 Retail 4,877

7 Logistics 3,251

8 Automotive 2,940
Banking, Financial
9 Services and Insurance 2,787
(BFSI)
10 Others 16,861

Total 64,721

117
DDU-GKY 2.0
The DDU-GKY has been implemented in
the state since 2014, and it is proposed to
continue until March 31, 2025. MoRD has
proposed shifting from the current DDU-GKY
1.0 to DDU-GKY 2.0, which includes key
features such as batch mode payments,
placement for 6 months with proof, the
promotion of 20% self-employment, and
online payment modes. National Informatic
Centre (NIC) will be a technical partner for
developing an integrated MIS portal called
“Grameen Kaushal”.

Features of DDU-GKY 2.0 is:

• A dedicated skill gap study
• The retention incentives for students
through DBT
• The creation of career guidance centres
• Job melas
• Alumni support

118
 • Skill loans
• Promoting captive employers
• Increased incentives for foreign
placements.
DDU-GKY 2.0 will continue to train
candidates in 2025-26 as well.

6.3 Rural Self Employment Training

Institutes (RSETIs):

RSETIs are established by Lead banks

in the districts and are engaged in training
rural youth for self-employment opportunities
and promoting rural entrepreneurship
through bank linkages to the trained
candidates. The Ministry of Rural
Development provides financial assistance of
up to Rs.2.00 crore for building infrastructure
and also reimburses the training costs for
rural BPL candidates. The State Government
has allocated 0.5 to 1.00 acre of land to each

119
RSETI for the construction of their own
training centers.
The Tamil Nadu State Rural Livelihoods
Mission (TNSRLM) plays a crucial role in the
functioning of RSETIs by mobilizing
candidates, overseeing training, monitoring,
and reimbursing claims to RSETIs. The
sponsored banks have completed the
construction of RSETI training centre in 8
districts, and construction is ongoing in
another 11 districts. Efforts will be made to
complete the construction of RSETIs in all 37
districts during the year 2025-26.

The target for the year 2024-25 was

set at 35,050, of which 35,796 beneficiaries
have been trained, and 17,249 beneficiaries
have been settled in self-employment.

Rural Self-Employment Training

Institutes (RSETIs) will also transition to
version 2.0 starting in 2025-26.

120
6.4 UNNATI:

The UNNATI project, a Nation-wide

scheme under the Ministry of Rural
Development (MoRD), aims to provide skill
training to the youth of Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MGNREGS) households who have
completed 100 days of work. It focuses on
providing skill training and enhancing the
employability of rural youth. Skill training is
offered through DDU-GKY and RSETIs, and
candidates receive a stipend at the
MGNREGS work rate for a maximum of 100
days under DDU-GKY and 30 days under the
RSETIs program.

Since the inception of the UNNATI

scheme, a target of 1,825 candidates was set
for training. However, TNSRLM surpassed
this target and trained 2,186 candidates. For
the year 2024-25, a target of 1,000

121
candidates was fixed for training of which
717 candidates have been trained.

6.5 Youth Skill Festival (YSF)

The State has a large youth population

that needs awareness about skills and job
opportunities across various sectors and job
roles available in the job market. If the youth
are skilled according to their aspirations, it
will greatly improve their livelihood and
employment opportunities. The Youth Skill
Festival program aims to create awareness
among rural youth about the various skill
training programs implemented by the
Central and State Governments and to help
rural youth choose the appropriate skill
programs based on their preferences and
abilities.

122
 The State Government has announced
to conduct 50 Youth Skill Festivals in the
year 2024-25. A total of 50 Youth Skill
Festivals have been conducted, mobilizing
18,496 youth. Of these, 7,901 youths have
been selected, and 3,723 youths have joined
various skill programs such as DDU-GKY,
RSETI, TNSDC, and others.

6.6 Direct Employment Through Job

Melas:

Under the Tamil Nadu State Rural

Livelihood Mission, district-level Job Melas
are organized directly between job-seeking
youth and job-providing companies. During
the Job Melas, participants are provided with
details about job offers, salaries, other
benefits, and facilities offered by the
participating companies. Job seekers are
facilitated in selecting suitable jobs based on

123
their educational qualifications and
preferences.

During the year 2024-25, 50 Job Melas

were conducted across the state, covering all
districts. A total of 1,07,118 youth were
mobilized, 22,416 were selected, and 13,710
joined in various industries.

6.7 Captive Employer

The Captive Employer program is a

unique initiative designed to create a
versatile and demand-driven skill
development ecosystem that caters to the
needs of industry partners, ensuring long-
term employment for underprivileged rural
youth. Four industries have been selected for
the Captive Employment program, with a
target of 3,868 candidates set for training
and placement.

124
 In addition, proposals from six captive
employers are under review to empanel them
as training partners in the state.
Furthermore, the state will initiate the
process of inviting RFPs from potential
employers next year under DDU-GKY
version 2.0.

125
126
7. Tamil Nadu Urban
Livelihoods Mission
(TNULM)

127
128
7.Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihoods Mission
(TNULM)

Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihoods Mission

(TNULM) aims to reduce poverty and
vulnerability of the urban households by
building strong Community Based
Organizations and enabling the urban poor to
access gainful self-employment and skilled
wage employment opportunities that paves
way for appreciable improvement in their
livelihoods on a sustainable basis.

The Mission also targets the needs of

the urban homeless by providing shelters
equipped with essential services and the
livelihood concerns of the street vending
community by facilitating access to suitable
vending spaces, institutional credit, social
security and skills for accessing emerging
market opportunities in a sustainable basis.

129
 Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihoods Mission
was initially implemented by the
Commissionerate of Municipal Administration.
From the year 2016-17, TNULM is being
implemented by Tamil Nadu Corporation for
Development of Women (TNCDW), due to its
rich experience in implementing poverty
alleviation programmes in both urban and
rural areas. TNULM 1.0 mission has ended as
on September 2024. A new mission is
proposed under NULM and the guidelines are
awaited.

Components of TNULM:

7.1 Social Mobilization and Institution

Development (SM&ID)

Mobilizing urban poor and vulnerable

sections into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and
federations is the main objective of TNULM.
Women from such households are mobilised

130
as Self-Help Groups with a membership
between 10 to 20.

TNULM lays special emphasis on the

mobilization of vulnerable sections of the
urban poor population such as SCs, STs,
Minorities, Women-Headed Households,
Differently-abled, Destitute women,
Vulnerable Occupational Groups like Street
Vendors, Rag Pickers, Domestic Workers,
Construction Workers etc. into SHGs. These
SHGs follow five non-negotiable principles in
their functioning namely, a) regular
meetings, b) regular savings, c) regular
internal lending, d) regular repayment and
e) up-to-date book of accounts.

Under SM&ID component, the following

activities are undertaken:

131
7.1.1 Formation of Self Help Groups and
Provision of Revolving Fund

On completion of 3 months, Self Help

Groups are graded and provided with
Revolving Fund after completion of
mandatory training. The revolving fund of
Rs.10,000/- per SHG helps to enhance their
corpus and increase internal lending among
its members and gain access to Bank
Linkage.

In the year 2024-25, 15,000 SHGs

have been formed of which 5006 SHGs have
been supported so far with revolving fund to
the tune of Rs.5.00 Crore.

7.1.2 Formation of Area Level

Federations and Provision of Revolving
Fund

A minimum of 10 SHGs come together

to get federated as an Area Level Federation

132
(ALF) at the Ward level. ALFs will facilitate
the SHGs to avail timely institutional credit at
an affordable rate of interest, to undertake
various livelihood activities and to facilitate
participation in various convergence and IEC
activities in urban areas. Each ALF is
provided with a one-time support cost of
Rs.50,000/- as Revolving Fund.

In the year 2024-25, 1000 ALFs have

been formed of which 263 ALFs have been
supported so far with revolving fund to the
tune of Rs.13.15 Crore.

7.1.3 Formation of City Level

Federations

The Area Level Federations are further

federated into City Level Federation at the
City / Town level to take care of the higher-
level requirements of ALFs and its member
SHGs.

133
7.1.4 City Livelihood Centres (CLCs)

City Livelihood Centres (CLCs) provide

a platform for the urban poor to promote
their products and services and act as “one-
stop shop” for all citizens seeking services
from the informal sector. It also functions as
a resource centre for those seeking
information relating to employment and skill
training opportunities in their respective
urban areas. There are 82 CLCs functioning
across the State.

7.2 Capacity Building and Training (CBT)

To provide technical assistance in the

fields of urban livelihood promotion and
urban poverty alleviation, comprehensive
training is being provided on need basis to
State, District and ULB staff, Federations,
SHGs and its members.

134
 SHGs and their federation are given
various capacity building training on their
roles and responsibilities, book keeping,
governance and accounts, bank linkage,
micro credit planning, micro investment
process, etc.

7.3 Self-Employment Programme

Timely and adequate credit delivery at
a reasonable rate of interest as per RBI
guidelines has enabled economic
empowerment of women in the State. This
component focuses on financial assistance to
individuals / groups of urban poor for setting
up gainful self-employment ventures / micro
enterprises, suitable to their skills, training,
aptitude and local conditions. The under-
employed and unemployed urban poor will be
encouraged to set up small enterprises
relating to manufacturing, servicing and

135
petty business for which there is considerable
local demand.

7.3.1 Urban SHG Bank Linkage/ Self-

Employment Programme for SHG BL
(SEP-BL)

Urban SHG Bank Linkage Programme

is an intervention which ensures the “Right to
Credit” for the poor by enabling access to
formal banking and financial services. SHG-
BLP enables women to avail loans at lower
rate of interest and build a strong
relationship with bankers for up-scaling their
economic activities by availing higher
quantum of loans continuously. The Urban
SHGs can avail credit linkage from any bank
with interest subsidy covered under RBI
norms of SHG-Bank Linkage programme.

136
 During the year 2024-25, a credit
linkage of Rs.10,684.71 crores has been
provided to 1,67,199 SHGs.

7.3.2 Self-Employment Programme for

Groups (SEP-G)

A minimum of 2 members of SHG or a

group of urban poor desirous of setting up
group enterprise for self-employment can
avail benefit of loans up to Rs.10 Lakh with
interest subsidy from any bank.

In the year 2024-25, 3,782 activity

groups have been supported with bank loans
of Rs.151.87 Crore.

7.3.3 Self-Employment Programme for

Individuals (SEP- I)

An urban poor individual beneficiary

desirous of setting up an individual micro-
enterprise for self-employment can avail

137
benefit of loan up to Rs.2 Lakh with interest
subsidy from any bank.

In the year 2024-25, Rs.42.95 crore

financial assistance has been provided to
6,642 individuals through various banks.

7.3.4 Interest Subvention

With a view to provide access to credit

at affordable rate of interest to the urban
poor, TNULM is providing interest subsidy for
SHGs accessing bank loan, through PAiSA
portal. The interest subsidy is the difference
between the prevailing rate of interest
charged by the bank and 7% per annum
which is reimbursed to the beneficiaries. An
additional 3% interest subvention is provided
to all SHGs who repay their loan on time.

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7.4 Entrepreneurship Development
Programme (EDP) Training

Tamil Nadu Urban Livelihoods Mission

is conducting Entrepreneurship Development
Program (EDP) training. The individual and
group entrepreneurs under the Self-
Employment Program (SEP) will be given
training under Entrepreneurship
Development Program. The training will focus
on creating awareness on entrepreneurship,
enhance their entrepreneurial skills,
preparation of business development plan,
sourcing of funds from various Govt.
schemes, marketing-related support etc.

For the year 2024-25, the

Entrepreneurship Development Program
(EDP) training was extended to 7500 urban
poor women.

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7.5 Partnership and Convergence

TNULM actively strives to collaborate

with other governmental departments to
achieve the overall objectives of poverty
alleviation and livelihood promotion.
• TNULM SHG members are key
stakeholders in Pradhan Mantri
Formalization of Micro Food Processing
Enterprises (PMFME) scheme and receive
seed capital support for establishing food
related micro-enterprises.
• Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam (MTM) is
implemented in all 649 Urban Local Bodies
for screening and monitoring of Non-
Communicable Diseases through 2256
Women Health Volunteers (WHVs)
identified from SHGs.
• TNULM SHG members play a key role in
Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 (Urban) by

140
 creating door-to-door awareness on waste
management at household level.
• In the Resettlement Tenements of the
Greater Chennai Corporation, TNULM
plays a pivotal role in mobilization and
setting up of community based institutions
and promote livelihood activities.
• Urban SHG members act as centre in-
charge in Town Panchayat schools under
Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme.
The following schemes are
implemented by the Directorate of Municipal
Administration. TNCDW acts as the
convening and funding organisation for the
below schemes:

• Support to urban Street Vendors

(SUSV)
• Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH)

141
142
8. TAMIL NADU RURAL
TRANSFORMATION
PROJECT (TNRTP) @

VAZHNDHU KATTUVOM
PROJECT (VKP) 2.0

143
144
8. TAMIL NADU RURAL
TRANSFORMATION PROJECT (TNRTP) @
VAZHNDHU KATTUVOM PROJECT (VKP)
2.0

Tamil Nadu Rural Transformation

Project @ Vazhndhu Kattuvom Project is a
poverty alleviation and economic
empowerment project implemented by the
Government of Tamil Nadu assisted by the
World Bank. The project has been built on
the lessons learnt from the implementation
of VKP Phase - I and Mahalir Thittam. The
VKP Phase - I was launched in the financial
year 2005-06 with the objectives of
strengthening and empowering the
institutions for the poor, in which the poor
people were identified by the Participatory
Identification of the Poor (PIP) methodology.
This strategy has been successfully replicated
in TNSRLM blocks and districts from 2013.

145
This approach has been appreciated and got
rated as a successful model for poverty
alleviation and livelihood projects. On
completion of the VKP phase -I, the TNRTP
has been launched in 2018 to build on the
initiatives developed and create higher order
institutions to support enterprise promotion,
financial linkages and skill development.

The project aims to promote rural

enterprises and improve the economic status
of Self-Help Group members by creating
sustainable enterprises in rural areas through
women led entrepreneurs. The project is
implemented in 3,994 Village Panchayats
across 120 Blocks of 31 Districts (except
Chennai, Thanjavur, Ariyalur, Perambalur,
Dharmapuri, Kanyakumari and Thirupathur).

146
8.1 Project Development Objectives

The Project Development Objective

(PDO) of VKP is “to promote rural
enterprises, access to finance, and create
employment opportunities” in selected blocks
of Tamil Nadu.

8.2 Funding Pattern

The World Bank and the Government of

Tamil Nadu are funding this project in the
ratio of 70:30 at an estimated cost of
Rs.919.73 crore (119.01 million US$). The
loan assistance from World Bank is
Rs.643.81 crore (83.31 million US$) and the
assistance by Government of Tamil Nadu
(GoTN) is Rs.275.92 crore (35.70 million
US$).

147
 8.3 Major Components of the Project:

This Project comprises of the following four

major components:

i) Rural Enterprise Ecosystem

Development
ii) Enterprise Business Plan Financing
iii) Skills and Job Opportunities
iv) Project Management, Results
Monitoring & Evaluation

Environment and Social Management

Framework (ESMF), Gender Parity,
Information, Communication & Technology
(ICT), Knowledge Management and
Communication (KMC), Procurement &
Contract (P&C) are the cross cutting activities
of the entire project.

148
8.4 Key Implementation strategies:

The Project is implemented with the

following strategies:

i) Technical and Financial Assistance for

Enterprise Promotion.
ii) Community based Farm and Skill
Schools.
iii) Enterprise Finance through Formal
Financial Institutions.
iv) Promoting Business Innovation.
v) Establishing Institutions.
vi) Capacity building to Entrepreneurs
vii) Monitoring and Evaluation
viii) Management Information System.
ix) Knowledge Management,
Communications & Learning Systems
x) Environmental & Social Management
Framework (ESMF)

149
8.5 Group Enterprises:

The Group Enterprises are provided

with technical assistance in respect of
governance, book keeping, financial
management and aggregation by the project.
The Producer Groups are technically assisted
by Community Farm Schools.

Individuals who are willing to work

collectively in the same sector are identified
and trained through Community Skill
Schools. After completion of training,
trainees are aggregated and formed as
Enterprise Groups.

Formation and strengthening of Group

Enterprises are being done by providing
startup funds, linking them with bank credit
and market are some of the technical and
financial assistance.

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8.5.1 Start-up Funds to Group
Enterprises

Start-up Funds are given to Group

Enterprises as grant to enhance the
production, reducing input cost, improving
quality and increasing income and profit of
the group enterprises.

8.5.1.1 Enterprise Groups – 10 to 30

members having joint ownership and control
over the business activities with shared
resources and profit, come together for
product development, to reduce production
costs, improve quality and increase the
income. Enterprise Groups are sanctioned
with start-up funds of Rs.75,000 based on
achieving milestones.

Upto the FY 2024-25, 1,000 enterprise

groups were assisted with start-up fund to
the tune of Rs. 9.30 crore.

151
8.5.1.2 Producer Groups - 30 to 150
producers of a particular commodity to be
organized together for aggregation of
produces to realize better income due to
economies of scale. Producer Groups are
given start-up funds of Rs.75,000 based on
achieving milestones.

Upto the FY 2024-25, 5,000 producer

groups were assisted with startup fund to
the tune of Rs.50.73 crore.

8.5.1.3 Producer Collectives (PCs) It is a

formal higher-level integration of Producer
Groups for aggregation, value addition,
marketing and providing service for
economies of scale. They are sanctioned
with start-up funds upto Rs.30.00 lakhs
after achieving the milestones. The
membership is usually ranging between 300
to 3,000 producers. There are 19 existing
Producer Collectives identified and 34 new

152
Producer Collectives formed by the Project.
They are registered under the Companies
Act, 2013.

Upto the FY 2024 - 25, 53 producer

collectives were assisted with start-up fund
to the tune of Rs.14.50 crore.

8.6 Individual Enterprises:

Individual Enterprises are owned by an

individual or more than one individuals in
partnership. Individual Enterprises are
classified as Nano, Micro and Small
Enterprises. The Enterprises whose
investments are upto Rs. 5 lakhs are called
Nano Enterprises and investments from
Rs.5 to 15 lakh are called Micro Enterprises
and investments from Rs.15 to 30 lakh are
called Small Enterprises. These Enterprises
are assisted with Matching Grant
Programme (MGP) of the project.

153
8.7 Community based Farm and Skill
Schools

Skill is an important asset which

increases the capability of the poor and
vulnerable to take up income-generating
activities. In order to provide skill to the
rural people within their reach through
experts from the local community, the
Community Skill School (CSS) and
Community Farm Schools (CFS) are
promoted.

8.7.1 Community Skill Schools (CSS)

Local and traditionally remunerative

trades are identified by the Panchayat Level
Federation (PLF) which also selects local
practitioners, experts or established
entrepreneurs with necessary infrastructure
as Master Trainers for the training. These
trainers set up Community Skill Schools in

154
the same village/block and train interested
youth in various trades for taking up either
wage or self-employment within the same
locality. The Skill Schools are established at
a cost of Rs. 70,000 to Rs.1.00 lakh which
includes the cost of honorarium for Trainers,
training kits, uniforms, etc.,

Up to the FY 2024-25, totally 2526

Community Skill Schools (CSS) have been
set up and 51,193 rural youth have been
provided skilling at a cost of Rs.19.30 crore,
which includes 324 Masonry, 259 Tailoring,
233 Electrician, 140 Two-wheeler Mechanic,
115 Welding, 53 Plumbing, 45 Cell Phone
Repairing, 9 Boat Repairing schools and
others.

8.7.2 Community Farm Schools (CFS)

To improve production, productivity,

crop diversification including rearing of

155
Livestock and Poultry, Community Farm
Schools are set up by farmers who have
gained expertise due to years of experience
and piloting new techniques and are able to
transfer technical knowledge and practices
to other farmers and producers.

Experts and Lead Farmers (SPARKs)

are identified and trained through
TNAU/KVK/TANUVAS to transfer best
practices through hands-on-training and
practical field demonstrations. They provide
continuous guidance and support to the
trained farmers. The Community Farm
Schools are established at the cost of
Rs. 70,000 to Rs.1.00 lakh including the
honorarium to the Lead Farmers, training
kits, laying of demonstration plots etc.

Up to the financial year 2024-25,

totally 6000 Community Farm Schools have
been set up and 1,82,337 Producer Group

156
members were given training in farm and
off-farm activities at the cost of Rs.51.01
crore, which includes 1920 Dairy, 547
Goatery, 458 Backyard Poultry and 3075
agriculture & horticulture crops.

8.7.3 Migration Support Centres (MSC):

Migration Support Centres facilitate the

migrants in accessing better services for
their career development including
placement opportunities. The first MSC was
set up at Singaperumal Kovil, Chengalpet
District with a capacity of 40 (20 Male and
20 female Separately) candidates. So far,
462 candidates have utilized this centre.
The second MSC was set up at Bargur,
Krishnagiri District with a capacity of 20
candidates. This centre is only for female
candidates so far (31.01.2025), 117
Beneficiaries have utilised this centre.

157
8.8 Enterprise Finance through Formal
Financial Institutions.

Enterprise Financing through Formal

Financial Institutions is to promote
economic activities of Individual Enterprises
and Group Enterprises. It enables access to
finance for identified business plans through
Matching Grant Program (MGP) via linkages
with Formal Financial Institutions.

8.8.1 Matching Grant Program (MGP)

Matching Grant Program (MGP) aims at

promoting inclusive economic development
for a transformative growth in rural Tamil
Nadu. MGP is a financial instrument
developed to fill the demand and supply gap
in lending to enterprises. It enables ease of
access to formal finance for the rural
entrepreneurs. MGP will incentivize the
entrepreneurs who repay the loans taken

158
from the partnering financial Institutions.
MGP envisages to reduce the turnaround
time, ensure efficient disbursal and
utilization of loans.

MGP is intended for the first generation

entrepreneurs, women led businesses,
Enterprise Groups, Producer Collectives,
differently abled led enterprises and other
types of enterprises perceived as a
challenge by the financial sector. Under
MGP, Rs.126 crore has been allocated to
support 10,790 enterprises which will
proportionately increase the credit linkages
up to Rs.375 crore. On prompt repayment
of 70% of the loan amount, the borrower is
eligible for 30% grant.

The Matching Grant Programme

supports 10,000 Nano, 500 Micro, 120
Small individual enterprises, 150 Enterprise
Groups and 10 Producer Collectives. An

159
average amount of Rs.1.00 lakh, Rs.3.00
lakh and Rs.5.00 lakh will be sanctioned as
grant portion to Nano, Micro and Small
enterprises respectively.

A sum of Rs.1.50 lakh and Rs.40.00

Lakh will be sanctioned as grant portion to
Enterprise Groups and Producer Collectives
respectively.

Up to the financial year 2024-25,

totally 9,421 Individual Enterprises were
supported with Matching Grant fund to the
tune of Rs.94 crore, 152 enterprise groups
were supported with an amount of Rs.1.5
crore and 6 Producer Collective was
supported at a cost of Rs.2.0 crore. Totally,
10,044 enterprises were supported to the
tune of Rs.108.76 crore. These enterprises
availed Rs.325 crore loans from formal
financial institutions.

160
8.8.2 Nano Enterprise Financing Fund
(NEFF)

• NEFF is a loan assistance program

exclusively developed for Women
members of SHGs for the purpose of
promoting their new and existing
enterprises.
• Nano enterprises in rural areas are facing
difficulties owing to untimely credit,
working capital deficit and changing
business environment. This gap widened
due to COVID pandemic and subsequent
lock down which has affected the rural
enterprises. In this context, VKP
provided enterprise finance to the self-
help group households as a soft loan
through the Panchayat Level Federations
(PLFs) and Village Poverty Reduction
Committees (VPRCs) to the tune of
Rs.259.80 crore to 88,974 beneficiaries

161
 in the 3,994 Village Panchayats of the
project area and loans are being repaid
by the beneficiaries. As on January 2025,
an amount of Rs.235.30 Crore has been
repaid by the beneficiaries.
• The repayment amount available in the
PLF and VPRC is pooled together in PLF
and renamed as Nano Enterprise
Financing Fund (NEFF). The Hon’ble Chief
Minister of Tamil Nadu has launched the
NEFF Scheme on 28th June 2023. NEFF
is administered by PLFs to promote new
and existing enterprises by following the
principles of the existing lending
pathways of the PLF as methods in
selection of entrepreneurs, credit
assessment, documentation and release
of funds. As on January 2025, NEFF loan
has been disbursed to the tune of
Rs.97.89 crore to 18,251 entrepreneurs

162
 to start or enhance their nano
enterprises.

8.9 Promoting Business Innovation

Business Innovation is a process by

which any industry or enterprise introduces
new ideas, workflows, services, products
and methodologies. Business innovations
usually solve problems, improve existing
products and strategies, boosting business
and reaching new customers. Innovation
Promotion is meant to contribute towards
design, promotion and implementation of
transformational ideas to tackle
development challenges in the enterprise
eco-system of the State.

VKP under Innovation promotion, links the

Innovators, Start-Up enterprises, Students
and Entrepreneurs with its Group and
Individual Enterprises. So far, 14 innovative

163
business proposals have been approved to
the tune of Rs. 1.05 crore.

8.10 Establishment of Institutions

8.10.1 Mathi Siragugal Thozhil Maiyam

(MSTM)

MSTM is a single point business service

provider which provides business
development support services to rural
enterprises / entrepreneurs.

There are 42 MSTMs established across

31 project districts. Through MSTM, the
following services are provided to the
entrepreneurs.

164
 Table 8.10. Services Provided by MSTMs
No. of
S.No Services Services
Provided

1 Legal Compliances 49,575

2 Mentor Services 491

3 Functional Expert Services 473

4 Business Plans for MGP 18,498

Business Plans for

5 5,752
Convergence schemes

6 E-Seva 4887

7 Facilitation Service 166

From 01.01.2023, Rate Cards for

providing various services are made
effective. So far, an amount of Rs. 1.86 Cr
has been collected as service charges by the
MSTM.

165
8.10.2 “TN-RISE” Women Startup
Mission

Entrepreneurship is a powerful enabler

to address the economic empowerment of
women folk. Women entrepreneurs continue
to face difficulties in accessing finance,
market linkage, networks and technology.
Gender bias also hampers the growth and
sustainability of their enterprises. Rural
women entrepreneurs are doubly
disadvantaged owing to rural and urban
divide.

To address the challenges faced by

women, the Government of Tamil Nadu
announced launching of an exclusive Start-up
Mission for Women. To fulfil this
announcement, TNRTP proposed to establish
a Women Startup Mission under the brand
name of Tamil Nadu Rural Incubator and

166
Startup Enabler Women Startup Mission (TN-
RISE) with the following objectives;

• Empowering aspiring women

entrepreneurs

• Providing higher-order support services

to women entrepreneurs

• Expanding their business horizons.

• Providing conducive infrastructure and

professional expertise

• Provision of customized market linkages,

financing, and operational advice

• Provision of high-end business

incubation service.

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8.11 Capacity Building for Individual
Enterprises

8.11.1 Entrepreneurship Development

Programme (EDP):

Under EDP training, 9,106

entrepreneurs have been trained in various
aspects like finance, marketing, business
plan preparation, convergence with other
schemes, legal compliances etc. at the cost
of Rs.2.28 crore.

8.11.2 SPARK (Lead Farmer) Training:

The second level training has been

conducted for 113 CFS - SPARKs on
specialized crop and livestock practices
through Tamil Nadu Agriculture University
(TNAU), Forest College and Research
Institute (FCRI), Aavin Skill Development
Centre and Andhra Pradesh Community
Managed Natural Farming (APCNF). In

168
addition, the project staff have been trained
in horticultural and natural farming practices
at Horticulture College and Research Institute
(HCRI) Periyakulam.

8.11.3 Certification:

Through Tamil Nadu Skill Development

Corporation, 715 CSS trainers have been
assessed and certified under Recognition of
Prior Learning in four trades - Masonry,
Electrician, Two-Wheeler Mechanism and
Tailoring.

8.11.4 Capacity Building to PC

members:

• Training on project orientation,

governance, book keeping, financial
management and business plan
preparation have been given to CEOs
and Board of Directors of all the
project supported new & existing PCs.

169
 In addition to that, sub sector training
on their respective commodities have
been provided to all the PCs.
• Training on importance of packaging
and branding was given to Board of
Directors and Chief Executive Officers
of Producer Collectives through Indian
Institute of Packaging (IIP), Chennai.
• Management Development Programme
(MDP) on FPO Management, a
residential training was provided to
District Executive Officers, Executive
Officers (Enterprise Development),
Young Professionals and Chief
Executive Officers of Producer
Collectives through the Institute of
Rural Management Anand (IRMA).
• Financial management training
conducted to Board of Directors and
Chief Executive Officers of 34 new PCs

170
 through Madurai Agri-Business
Incubation Forum (MABIF).
• All the Board of Directors and Chief
Executive Officers of new PCs were
taken to exposure visits to five good
performing PCs which were promoted
by Department of Agri. Marketing.
• As an exposure visit to observe the
best practices, the project staff and
CEOs of Producer Collectives were
taken to Sahyadri Farms, Nashik.

8.11.5 Capacity Building to project

staff:

• Conducted Training of Trainers (ToTs)

programme on Micro Enterprise Loan
supported by International Finance
Corporation (IFC). 150 Master trainers
were trained and through cascading
method district staff, block staff and

171
 enterprise community professionals
were trained.
• Producer Collective financing training
given to all Young Professionals,
Enterprise Development Officers,
Enterprise Finance Officers, Executive
Officers, Enterprise Finance
Professionals & Chief Executive
Officers of Producer Collectives at IIM
Trichy.
• 35 project staff (Executive Officers -
Business Plan Financing and
Enterprise Finance Professionals) were
trained at the Institute of Rural
Management Anand.

8.12 Monitoring and Evaluation:

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is a

continuous activity to generate feedback on
the performance of the project activities and
support project managers to take timely

172
corrective measures to address any
shortcomings and deviations. M&E system
will provide realistic, real time and easily
understandable information on various
aspects of project implementation.

8.12.1 CAP Impact Evaluation–

Institute for Financial Management &
Research (IFMR):

IFMR was engaged for the purpose of

conducting Baseline, Endline and
Enterprises Profiling survey for CAP impact
evaluation across all 31 districts covering
120 blocks of Tamil Nadu.

The evaluation has followed structured

interviews for capturing quantitative and
qualitative aspects of scheme
implementation through questionnaires.

173
8.12.2 Grievances Redressal
Mechanism:

Awareness on work place safety for women

entrepreneurs from SHG households have
been created. Grievances Redressal portal
has been created for project functionaries &
beneficiaries to register their complaints.
Grievance registered on the portal are
addressed through respective District
Project Management Unit (DPMU). So far,
317 complaints were registered in the portal
out of which 292 complaints have been
resolved.

8.13 Management Information System.

Information, Communication and

Technology (ICT) is an inevitable part of the
Project to establish a digital platform for the
real time monitoring of the project activities
and their efficient functioning. VKP is in the

174
process of developing, designing and
implementing the Integrated Digital
Platform (IDP) for this project.

In the IDP portal (www.idp.tnrtp.org),

the modules of Covid Assistance Package
(CAP), District Diagnostic Study Reports
(DDS), Value Chain Analysis (VCA),
Grievance Redressal Mechanism (GRM),
Youth Database (YDB), Farm Database
(FDB), Matching Grant Program (MGP),
Community Skill Schools (CSS), Community
Farm Schools (CFS), Nano Enterprise
Financing Fund (NEFF), Knowledge
Management Repository (KMR), Enterprises
Promotion Module (EPM) and Mathi
Siragugal Thozhil Maiyam (MSTM) are
operational.

This IDP application strengthens the

Management Information System (MIS) of

175
the Project and serves as a ready reckoner
for all the data related to the VKP Project.

8.13.1 Knowledge Management,

Communications & Learning Systems

The objective of this component is to

develop and roll out, mechanisms and
processes for effective flow of knowledge
generated through the project and
disseminated to the primary and secondary
stakeholders and external audiences
through dynamic communication package.
The knowledge generated will be used
effectively for project implementation
related learning and capacity building.

Activities carried out by this component

are Information Education Communication
(IEC) materials preparation, Social Media
Management, Website Management,
Documentation of Photos, Videos & Success

176
Stories, Public Relations, Media Relations,
Content Creation for the project, designing,
and Event & Exhibition management.

8.13.2 Environmental & Social

Management Framework (ESMF)

The primary objective of the ESMF

framework is to guarantee the long-term
environmental and social sustainability of
project interventions. Its purpose is to
proactively address and minimize any
negative environmental and social
consequences resulting from the
enterprises, while simultaneously
maximizing their positive environmental and
social contributions. Additionally, the
framework aims to encourage the
development of eco-friendly enterprises and
secure the enduring environmental and
social sustainability of value chains.

177
• A comprehensive monitoring process
has been conducted for 1218 group
enterprises across 31 districts. These
groups consist of 524 Producer
Groups, 591 Enterprise Groups, 50
MGPs, and 53 Producer Collectives. As
a result of this monitoring,
recommendations have been made to
implement remedial measures that
aim to reduce environmental impacts
and improve energy efficiency in their
business operations.
• Following the completion of green
audits, 280 businesses from both
farm and non-farm sectors were
evaluated to determine their carbon
emissions. The results showed a
significant decrease of approximately
4.6 Ton CO2 emissions from the

178
 baseline audit in 2022 to the endline
audit in 2023.
• This reduction accounts for about 5%
of the enterprises supported by
Vazhndhu Kattuvom Project. As a
result of these green initiatives, the
beneficiaries may have the
opportunity to capitalize on carbon
credits in the near future.
• ESMF has conducted assessments on
53 Farmer Producer Collectives to
assign green ratings based on their
implementation of environmental
friendly measures and business
practices.
• Out of the 53 Farmer Producer
Collectives evaluated, 50 are deemed
eligible to receive green incentive
funds for their adoption of innovative
green practices. In 2022, 14 Farmer

179
 Producer Collectives were recognized
with green ratings, leading to the
release of a total green grant fund of
Rs. 23 lakh. During 2024, a sum of
Rs. 1.55 crore has been disbursed to
35 Farmer Producer Collectives to
further enhance their green
initiatives.
• Within the framework of the
Participatory Guarantee System (PGS)
certification, a total of 160.42 acres
belonging to 133 farmers have been
registered by the Regional Council for
Organic Farming.

180
9. Societies under Tamil
Nadu Corporation for
Development of Women
(TNCDW)

181
182
9.1 Tamil Nadu State Non-Governmental
Organizations and Volunteers Resource
Centre (TNVRC)

Tamil Nadu State Non-Governmental

Organizations and Volunteers Resource Centre
(TNVRC) was established in the year 2001. It
was registered as a Society under Tamil Nadu
Societies Registration Act - 1975 and
functioning under the umbrella of Tamil Nadu
Corporation for Development of Women. The
objective of the TNVRC is to provide Capacity
Building to its stakeholders such as Project
staff, Community Based Organizations (CBOs)
and Resource Persons at State, District & Block
levels, Preparation of various training manuals
and guide books and providing support services
to new community-oriented projects related to
socio economic development.

TNVRC has been involved in

empanelment of State Resource Persons

183
(SRPs), District Resource Persons (DRPs) and
Block Resource Persons (BRPs) on various
components of TNSRLM. In addition, TNVRC has
developed various training manuals on SHG
Guide book, Hand book on Digital Transfer,
Brochure on Financial Literacy, FNHW, Gender,
NIRANGAL- Menstrual Hygiene Management
(MHM), Mental Health Programme (MHP) and
Flip books on FNHW and MHP in coordination
with IB & CB, Financial Inclusion (FI) and
Partnership & Convergence (P&C) section of
TNSRLM.

During the year 2025-26, TNVRC has

proposed to strengthen the District Level
Federation (DLF) through organizing
Governance and Finance Management training
programme to all Office bearers of DLFs and
also conduct grading of 19 district DLF
(MaKaMai) / Community Managed Training
Centre (CMTC) for assessing the institutional

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and financial discipline of the organizations and
also enables / facilitates intervention for their
improvement. In addition, TNVRC has also
extended technical support to other sections of
TNSRLM and TNULM.

9.2 Mutram – A Monthly Magazine

A monthly magazine was found essential

to act as an information, Education and
Communication tool for the various women
activities and schemes being implemented
through Tamil Nadu Corporation for
Development of Women. Consequently, the
Mutram Society was founded and registered
under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration
Act, 1975 (Tamil Nadu Act No 27 of 1975).
From the year 1998 onwards, the Mutram
monthly magazine is published for more than
25 years. The first edition of Mutram magazine
was published with 10,500 copies. Now, around
1,30,000 copies of Mutram magazine are being

185
sent to the subscribed SHGs having 22 lakh
members throughout Tamil Nadu.

Mutram magazine, which has only women

in self-help groups as its readers, is now
published with the aim of reaching out to all
segments of People. Mutram magazine is being
published with a new look, a better design, and
a magazine that includes useful news items
that all segments of people would like to read.

Mutram monthly magazine brings out the

actual success stories of SHGs, Panchayat Level
Federations and Village Poverty Reduction
Committees and Women Development projects
being implemented by the Government of Tamil
Nadu, Consumer Protection and Rights of
Women, Women Education, Women Protection
Laws, Poverty alleviation programmes, women
entrepreneurship Development Programmes,
Group activities, Natural Farming methods,
Health awareness, activities of differently abled

186
persons and Mental Health awareness are being
published to provide necessary information to
all the SHGs formed under Mahalir Thittam,
TNSRLM, NULM and VKP. Mutram magazine
enlightens the lives of SHG Women.

9.3 Tamil Nadu State Supply and

Marketing Society - TNSSMS

One of the various support organisations

for product promotion and Marketing activities
of SHG product at the apex level is the State
Supply and Marketing Society. The Society
strives to create backward and forward linkage
in order to gain economies of scale for the SHG
products, across the State.

This is taken up through organising

exhibitions at the State, nominating
representatives for national and line
department exhibitions. Within its purview, the
Society has its control over all the District

187
Supply and Marketing Society (DSMS) and
other Marketing avenues created in the
districts.

The DSMS provides support to the SHGs

in value addition, diversification, cross linking
and packing facilities. Besides, imparting
knowledge on price fixation, regulation on
compliance, quality assurance, payment
gateways and probable fraudulence are taken
up on regular basis. It also organises fairs and
exhibitions for promotion and sale of the
products.

10. CONCLUSION

The Tamil Nadu Government is fully

committed to holistic empowerment of women
and the Tamil Nadu Corporation for
development of Women has been playing a
pivotal role in ensuring the social, economic
and political empowerment of women, poor and

188
the marginalised through its various livelihood
schemes and skill development programmes.

The Livelihood Missions are also

committed to social development amongst the
downtrodden, who are the target beneficiaries
of the missions, both in Urban and Rural Areas.
Continuous efforts will be taken to enrol all left
out women into the SHG fold, build their
capacities and federate them into community-
based organisation. The capabilities of the
CBOs will be enhanced to ensure that
government scheme benefits are delivered for
the women members of SHGs, both in rural and
urban areas.

The Government will also strive to bring

about gender parity in the society by building
awareness among men and women on gender,
equality, equity and support the women to
claim their rights and access legal support
systems when in need. Special impetus will be

189
given to ensuring the reach of these welfare
programmes which empower women,
economically and socially to the most
downtrodden and disadvantaged households.

The TNSRLM, TNULM and VKP are

creating livelihood opportunities in both farm
and non-farm sector and will be further
strengthened through cluster development,
value addition, marketing and branding. The
synergy between the missions will be further
strengthened through integrated resources for
greater value to the society.

The aim of the Government is to ensure

that the benefits of Government schemes reach
the poorest of the poor and the SHG network is
fully utilised for last mile delivery of
Government schemes and services to the most
disadvantaged households. TNCDW is taking all
efforts to ensure that this is achieved through
the close coordination with all other

190
departments to improve the livelihood of the
SHGs.

Under the dynamic leadership of the

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Thiru
M.K. Stalin, every effort is being taken to
ensure multidimensional development and
equal opportunity of growth to all in the
society, thereby creating a poverty free Tamil
Nadu.

UDHAYANIDHI STALIN
Deputy Chief Minister
Government of Tamil Nadu

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 International Women’s Day Celebration -
Distribution of Bank Credit to SHGs

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu distributed the Bank Credit to SHGs

1
 International Women’s Day Celebration -
Distribution of ID Cards to SHG Members

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu distributed the ID Cards to SHG Members

2
Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister Inaugurated
Food Festival at Chennai

3
State Level function for Distribution of Bank Credit to SHGs

4
 District wise Number of Mathi Rural and Urban SHGs
as on 28.02.2025
5
 District wise Bank Credit Linkage to SHGs
(2024-2025)
6
Year wise SHG Bank Credit Linkage Achievement
(From 2001 to 2024-25)

7
Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister distributed Manimegalai Awards
to best performing SHGs & CBOs

8
Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister distributed Manimegalai Awards
to best performing SHGs & CBOs

9
Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister inaugurated SARAS Exhibition

10
Livelihood Promotion Activities

11
 Marketing Initiatives

Buyer seller meet at Pudukkottai Corporate bazaar at Mahindra World City, Chengalpet

Regional E-commerce facilitation Mela at Chennai Apartment bazaar at Chengalpet

12
Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister launched the newly designed
MUTRAM monthly magazine and Minmathi 2.0 Mobile App

13
 Social Intervention through Convergence

Gender Resource Centres (GRCs) Gender Based Violence Food, Nutrition, Health &
Campaign (GBV 3.0) WASH Campaign

Menstrual Hygiene Management Legal Awareness Training

14
 Enterprise activities under Vazhndhu Kattuvom Project

Community Skill School Community Farm School Matching Grant Program Benefit :
Handicrafts Training Natural Farming Spinning Mill

Mathi Siragugal Thozhil Maiyam Producer Group Enterprise Group

(One Stop Centre for Business Solution) Toda Tribal Hand Weaving Unit

15