Heart's in hinterland, want more lakhpati didis

New rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has promised renewed efforts towards the welfare of rural India and stressed that improving the fortune of a larger number of women in the hinterlands will be one of his priorities. Taking charge of the rural development ministry on Tuesday, the former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh said: "India lives in its villages. Rural development remains our prime minister's priority. Many programmes are being run for that". The number of the so-called 'Lakhpati Didis', he said, has to be tripled to 30 million at the earliest. The scheme is implemented through self-help groups and aims to enable women to earn ₹1 lakh per year each through various official interventions.

"The prime minister has another dream that we want to fulfil-to have more 'Lakhpati Didis'... women empowerment is a mission of our government," he said.