Union Ministry of Rural Development Organises Two-Day National Workshop on Rural Enterprise Incubators in Thiruvananthapuram

Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), in collaboration with Kerala State Rural Livelihood Mission (Kudumbashree), organised a two-day National Workshop on Rural Enterprise Incubators under DAY-National Rural Livelihood Mission on Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Shri Shailesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, MoRD, in his virtual inaugural address, highlighted the incubator program’s role in advancing women-led rural enterprises, noting that DAY-NRLM has mobilized over 10 crore women into 90 lakh SHGs, with many becoming first-generation entrepreneurs. He cited the success of pilots in Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, and Karnataka, and shared that Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and several other States are scaling up with leading academic partners.

Addressing the gathering, Shri M.B. Rajesh, Minister for Local Self-Government, Kerala, underlined Kerala’s commitment to promoting women-led entrepreneurship through Kudumbashree and expressed confidence that the workshop would serve as a platform for collaboration and innovation to strengthen rural enterprise ecosystems.

Delivering a message on behalf of MoRD, Ms. Swati Sharma, Joint Secretary (RL), MoRD, Govt of India, has emphasized the Ministry’s vision of scaling the incubator program into a national platform for women-led rural entrepreneurship, and expressed confidence that the workshop would generate actionable strategies and strong partnerships for ensuring its long-term success.

The workshop will help create an environment for the enterprises selected for the incubator project to grow, said Ms. Rajeshwari S.M, Director (RL),  Ministry of Rural Development. She gave a detailed overview on DAY- NRLM and the incubator program. Kudumbashree Executive Director Shri H. Dineshan welcomed the participants. Assam Agricultural University Vice Chancellor Dr.Bidyut C. Dekha delivered the felicitation address. Kudumbashree Chief Operating Officer C. Naveen proposed the vote of thanks.

The workshop features panel discussions on mentoring, financing, technology, market access, and convergence, with the participation of eminent experts from academia, industry, and social enterprise networks, whose insights and contributions will help shape the scaling of rural enterprise incubation across States.  The two-day deliberations are expected to provide actionable strategies for scaling enterprise incubation across states and contribute to empowering women entrepreneurs under DAY-NRLM in line with the vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047.