Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited, a first-of-its-kind cooperative financial body that promises affordable loans to rural women entrepreneurs in Bihar.
Addressing lakhs of Jeevika Didis virtually, Modi described the initiative as a turning point in women’s empowerment through the cooperative model.
“Empowered women are a major foundation of a developed India,” the Prime Minister declared, stressing that initiatives like Jeevika Nidhi are designed to ease women’s access to credit and enable them to grow businesses without falling prey to high-interest microfinance lenders.
The cooperative society will bring all cluster-level federations of Jeevika under one umbrella. Both the Centre and the Bihar government will fund its operations, while the system will run fully digitally, ensuring speed and transparency.
With 12,000 community cadres equipped with tablets, women will be able to access funds directly through their mobile phones, bypassing middlemen. Calling the launch “a highly promising initiative,” Modi congratulated the women of Bihar and credited Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for partnering in the effort.
He underlined that the Jeevika Nidhi is not merely about finance but about dignity. “For our government, the dignity of a mother, her respect, her self-respect are a topmost priority,” he said.
The Prime Minister linked the cooperative to a wider transformation in women’s lives brought by his government. He cited Swachh Bharat’s crores of toilets, PM Awas Yojana’s houses registered in women’s names, Har Ghar Jal’s drinking water, and Ayushman Bharat’s free medical cover.
He pointed out that livelihood-focused schemes like Lakhpati Didi, Drone Didi, and Bank Sakhi are helping women earn and lead, describing them as part of “a grand campaign dedicated to serving mothers and sisters.”
Jeevika Nidhi is expected to slash women’s dependence on microfinance institutions charging 18–24% interest and provide larger, cheaper, and timelier loans. Around 20 lakh women entrepreneurs across Bihar are expected to benefit, strengthening rural cooperatives and community-owned enterprises.
Modi rooted the scheme in Bihar’s cultural ethos, recalling how the state has long worshipped maternal power through traditions like Ganga Maiya, Chhathi Maiya, and Janaki Ji of Mithila.
“Bihar is a land where the reverence for maternal power, and the honour of mothers, has always held the highest place,” he said, adding that the cooperative embodies that same spirit of respect.
The Prime Minister ended with a call for economic self-reliance through cooperative strength. “The current need of the hour is ‘Har Ghar Swadeshi, Ghar-Ghar Swadeshi’,” he told traders and families, urging them to embrace Made in India products and back women-led enterprises.
The launch event in Patna saw Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and thousands of Jeevika members in attendance, as Modi positioned cooperatives as the bedrock of women’s empowerment in Bihar’s villages.
