Project Udyamita
Women in Entrepreneurship — Transforming livelihoods into sustainable enterprises across North East India and Assam through education, skills, and access.
Two Pilot Projects
Parallel CSR Initiatives, Shared Model
Udyamita — Namsai
Aspirational District
📍 Lekang & Namsai Block, Namsai District, Arunachal Pradesh
A 4-month pilot enabling rural women in Namsai District to transition from traditional livelihoods to formal entrepreneurship, building cluster-level digital infrastructure and institutional linkages with ArSRLM, SBI, KVK, and the District Administration.
Funded by: NEDFi — CSR Initiative | Dec 2025 – Mar 2026
Udyamita under NEDFi — NamsaiUdyamita — Kamrup
District, Assam
📍 Rani Block (Bahupara & Kaharpara) & Sualkuchi (Bongshar), Kamrup, Assam
A 2-month pilot in Kamrup District combining a rigorous 312-person baseline survey with sector-specific skill training in handloom and tailoring, and the establishment of two Udyamita Kendras — including Assam's premier silk-weaving hub at Sualkuchi.
Funded by: SLICE Small Finance Bank — CSR | Jan – Mar 2026
Udyamita under Slice — KamrupProject Udyamita — Activities & Insights
What Was Done
Key Activities Across Both Projects
Namsai — NEDFi Project Arunachal Pradesh
- 🏛️Multi-Stakeholder Meeting (22 Jan 2026)Convened by DC; SBI, NABARD, KVK, ArSRLM, DAO, AUS, civil society
- 🧑🏫EDP Orientations (Phases 2 & 3)291 women across 30 SHGs on livelihood-to-entrepreneurship, marketing, loan management
- 🍄Mushroom Enterprise Training (KVK / Tribal Sub-Plan)72+ women in Oyster, Button & Paddy Straw cultivation — full lifecycle, value addition
- 🏦Financial Literacy Camps (SBI)216 SHG members engaged; 10 KCC loan applications submitted to SBI Namsai
- 📱Digital & Social Media Training (28 Mar 2026)30 women on WhatsApp Business, UPI, Flipkart, cyber safety; Skills Passports awarded
- 🥒Advanced Pickles Training (ArSRLM)20 women; FSSAI-compliant processing of bamboo shoots, king chili, ginger
Kamrup — Slice SFB Project Assam
- 📋RWE Need Assessment (Jan–Feb 2026)312 women surveyed across 14 value chains in Rani Block and Sualkuchi
- 🧵Handloom Training (23–25 Feb 2026)25 RWEs; WSC-certified Mr. Dinesh Nath (30 yrs exp.); jacquard design, loom setup
- ✂️Tailoring Training — Rani & Sualkuchi65 women across two batches; machine operation, stitching, repair, guidance
- 📣Awareness Programmes (Feb & Mar 2026)Bahupara and Bongshar; SLICE Bank reps, SHG leaders, Panchayat members
- 🎓Certificate Distribution (19 Mar 2026)All trained RWEs certified in presence of SLICE Bank Branch Head
- 🖥️Udyamita Kendra InaugurationsKaharpara Rani (20 Mar) & Bongshar Sualkuchi (27 Mar); digital kits deployed
The Udyamita Model
Three Pillars of Intervention
Education & Awareness
EDP orientations on the transition from livelihood to entrepreneurship; awareness of schemes (MUDRA, NRLM, KCC, PMEGP); financial literacy and digital training.
Skills & Capacity
Hands-on technical training in sector-specific trades — handloom, tailoring, mushroom cultivation, piggery, advanced food processing — deepening what women already do.
Access & Linkages
Udyamita Kendras as permanent village-level digital hubs. Udyamita Sakhis as embedded community enterprise enablers providing continuous post-training handholding.
Cross-Project Insights
Key Learnings
Despite 100% bank account ownership in Namsai, 89.7% feared online banking. Fear reduces with familiarity; peer-led demonstration beats instruction.
Leveraging KVK, ArSRLM, SBI, and DAO resources allowed training and services far beyond what standalone budgets could support.
The 'What Next?' gap — where training ends but application support doesn't begin — is the most common failure point. Sakhis fill it.
In Kamrup: 52.7% (Rani) and 73.9% (Sualkuchi) had zero loan defaults, and 100% of 312 surveyed women aspired to scale.
91.3% of Kamrup RWEs operated without any legal registration — invisible to credit and markets. Clear priority for Phase 2.
Placing Kendras within women's own Panchayats removed the travel barrier that previously prevented access to banking and services.