PM Modi hails Assam entrepreneur as inspiration for mobilising 3,000 women to form SHGs

Guwahati, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hailed a woman entrepreneur from Assam, who mobilised 3,000 people to form self help groups (SHGs), as an inspiration for enabling economic uplift of the society. He said Kalyani Rajbongshi, who hails from Guwahati, is an example of how women can contribute to the growth of the nation when they become financially independent.

Interacting with Rajbongshi during a 'Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra' event through video conferencing, Modi hailed her for helping others through her knowledge in striving towards financial self-reliance.

"I am happy to hear that others have benefitted from your knowledge... you are an example of how women of our country who are self-dependent can contribute to the society," the PM said.


Rajbongshi is an entrepreneur and self help group (SHG) worker, who has helped women of her area form SHGs and financially contribute to their households.

Recounting before the PM her journey from being a homemaker to an entrepreneur, Rajbongshi said she started off in 2016 by setting up a mushroom processing unit with Rs 2,000 that she got under a central government scheme.

She later went on to set up a food processing unit and a weaving centre when more government assistance came her way.

She also helped 3,000 women of nearby areas to form 300 SHGs and provided bank linkages to over 200 of these groups, for which the state government had feted her with 'Assam Gaurav' award earlier this year.

"An entrepreneur and SHG worker, she mobilised about 3,000 women around her locality and helped them form 300 SHGs for augmenting family income. She has facilitated loans for more than 230 SHGs through SHG-bank linkage," the chief minister's office had posted on X after she was conferred with the award in March.

The PM, who also enquired about her formal education to which she said he had cleared Higher Secondary exams, urged Rajbongshi to continue with her work for the society.

The Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is being undertaken across the country with the aim of attaining saturation of flagship government schemes by ensuring their benefits reach all the targeted beneficiaries in a time-bound manner.

Besides addressing beneficiaries through video conferencing, Modi also flagged off the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram, the five states where assembly elections were held recently.

The yatra was launched for other states earlier, but the launch for the five states got delayed as the model code of conduct was in place due to the elections.