VIJAYAWADA: In a bid to empower urban women economically and alleviate poverty, the Andhra Pradesh Urban Poverty Alleviation Organisation (MEPMA) launched the Livelihoods & Entrepreneurship Acceleration Plan (LEAP) in Tadepalli on Wednesday.
The event, held at a local hotel, was spearheaded by MEPMA Mission Director NM Tej Bharat in collaboration with the India Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Forum. The plan, initiated at the direction of Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, aims to develop at least one entrepreneur in every household across the State.
The initiative, which is set to conclude by June 8, targets the transformation of self-employed women into sustainable entrepreneurs through skill-building, funding support, and market access.
Tej Bharat highlighted that over 7 lakh women in self-help groups (SHGs) are already engaged in small-scale businesses, including soap-making, incense production, paper plate manufacturing, and food processing. He noted that while many of these ventures are active, they require assistance in branding, marketing, and scaling. The government, he added, has facilitated Rs 16,000 crore in loans to SHGs in the last nine months.
With nearly 28.7 lakh women organised under 2.74 lakh SHGs and 99% of the data digitised, MEPMA now aims to focus on transparency, skill development, and business facilitation.
India SME Forum’s Director General, Sushma Morthania, said the forum intends to create 30,000 urban women entrepreneurs—10,000 scaling up existing businesses and 20,000 launching new ones. She assured support in areas such as capacity building, business mapping, and securing access to markets and finance. Officials from MEPMA units in Tirupati, GVMC, and VMC and other officials were present.