Hyderabad: Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Danasari Anasuya Seethakka welcomed Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s decision to entrust grain milling operations to women’s self-help groups.
The Chief Minister also announced plans to allocate 50 to 100 acres in each Assembly constituency for modern grain storage facilities. Women’s groups would manage the proposed facilities.
Seethakka, who also holds the Women and Child Welfare portfolio, thanked Revanth Reddy for the decision. She said the Women SHG grain milling initiative would further strengthen the groups financially.
According to the minister, the government had already created employment and income opportunities for women’s groups across several sectors. Moreover, the latest initiative would extend those opportunities to grain milling and storage.
She said the move could generate large-scale employment and business opportunities for rural women.
Women SHG grain milling to expand economic role
Seethakka said handing milling responsibilities to women’s groups would strengthen the economic empowerment of self-help groups. She said the government wanted SHGs to move beyond savings and lending activities. Instead, it aimed to involve them across production, processing, storage and marketing operations.
Therefore, the Women SHG grain milling decision would support the government’s broader goal of expanding their economic participation, she said. Seethakka also welcomed the proposal to provide 50 to 100 acres in every constituency for grain storage infrastructure.
She said the initiative aimed to provide a permanent solution to grain storage problems that arose during every procurement season. Under the proposal, women’s groups would manage modern silo bags and warehouses developed for grain storage.
Furthermore, Seethakka said modern warehouses and milling units under SHG management could create jobs for women. Such facilities could also provide a stable source of income for the groups.
Women SHG grain milling to support rural economy
The minister said greater participation by women’s groups in milling and storage would increase their role in the rural economy. Consequently, she described the decision as another step towards women’s economic empowerment.
Seethakka said Revanth Reddy’s decisions were creating new opportunities for lakhs of women’s groups across Telangana. She linked the measures to the government’s objective of making women economically self-reliant across different sectors. The minister said the government would undertake more programmes to develop women’s groups into stronger economic entities.
She maintained that the Women SHG grain milling initiative, storage facilities and related infrastructure would broaden their income opportunities. In addition, the measures would allow SHGs to participate in multiple stages of the agricultural value chain.