Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Presents Seed Capital under MMUA at Tamulpur

TAMULPUR: Empowering the Nari Shakti of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday distributed Rs 10,000 seed capital each to 35,199 women beneficiaries under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Udyamita Abhiyan (MMUA) at a programme in Tamulpur. He said the scheme has given strong momentum to women-led enterprises, creating new economic opportunities and fostering a spirit of entrepreneurship among women across Assam.

Dr Sarma highlighted that women in Assam have historically demonstrated exceptional leadership, citing examples such as Sati Joymati and Mulagabharu. While many women earlier remained confined to household responsibilities, the rise of self-help groups (SHGs) sparked a major socio-economic transformation, enabling more women to begin income-generating activities. Numerous women have launched small businesses, becoming financially independent.

The Chief Minister noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to help three crore women become “Lakhpati Baideus”, earning more than Rs 1 lakh annually through entrepreneurship. In Assam alone, 40 lakh women are part of SHGs, and over eight lakh have already achieved Lakhpati status through business ventures supported by savings and bank loans.

Addressing the challenge of limited capital faced by aspiring women entrepreneurs, Dr Sarma said the state government decided to directly support each SHG member through MMUA. Under the scheme, the government will spend Rs 4,000 crore to provide Rs 10,000 to forty lakh women. He added that 45 assembly constituencies have already been covered, benefiting 10 lakh women, demonstrating the government’s commitment to fulfilling its promises.

He urged beneficiaries to use the seed capital effectively, explaining that depositing the initial Rs 10,000 into their SHGs would help build a larger corpus to start or expand businesses. After six months, the government will review fund utilization, and successful women will receive further installments of Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000.

Dr Sarma also announced that Orunodoi 3.0 will be launched in the BTC on December 12, benefiting 4.5 lakh women. He will distribute approval letters in Kokrajhar on the same day. Additionally, the state will introduce the Babu Scheme for boys from January 1 and provide subsidized essential commodities and cooking gas cylinders to ration-card holders and Orunodoi families, a press release stated.

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