Bhubaneswar, March 24 The Odisha government disbursed an interest subsidy of ₹208.35 crore to more than 2.67 lakh women self-help groups (SHGs) on Tuesday.
Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida disbursed the funds to the women SHGs at a special event here.
She also distributed ₹6.43 crore as a Revolving Fund to 3,510 SHGs, ₹57.05 crore as a Community Investment Fund to 180 Gram Panchayat Level Federations (GPLFs), and ₹1.40 crore to 101 Cluster Level Federations (CLFs) under the Vulnerability Reduction Fund.
Addressing the gathering, Parida said that women are now at the forefront of the state's development journey.
"While earlier efforts focused on how to uplift women, today they have emerged as key drivers of social and economic transformation in Odisha," she said.
As the women SHG members grow economically stronger and self-reliant, they are laying a solid foundation for a developed Odisha, said Parida, who is in charge of the Mission Shakti Department.
She further urged women to effectively utilise financial resources provided under various government schemes, reinvest their earnings wisely, enhance financial literacy, and remain vigilant against rising cyber frauds.
The deputy chief minister also interacted virtually with SHG members and officials from districts such as Koraput, Balasore, Kalahandi, Ganjam, and Keonjhar.
Parida reviewed the grassroots implementation of schemes and assessed whether the benefits of interest subvention have successfully reached the SHGs.
She also engaged with Bank Mitras, Krushi Mitras, Pashu Mitras, and other grassroots-level functionaries to evaluate the effectiveness of programme delivery.
The state government has reimbursed a total of ₹724.39 crore as interest subvention to 3.80 lakh SHGs during the financial year 2025–26, officials said.