Mahalakshmi Saras: The Largest Initiative for Women Empowerment
by Pranita Kurani Mumbai, 1 May 2026 — Mahalakshmi Saras is emerging today as a powerful symbol of women empowerment in Maharashtra. With over 5 million ‘Lakhpati Didis’ actively engaged across the state, it stands as one of the largest working women’s collectives in the country. These women are not only entrepreneurs but are also direct generators of employment, making significant contributions to the economic progress of their families and society. Under the UMED campaign, Mahalakshmi Saras has now evolved into a large-scale people’s movement, where women are gaining not just livelihoods but also self-reliance, leadership, and social recognition. This initiative is consistently working towards organizing rural women and making them financially empowered. The success of the UMED campaign can be gauged from the fact that loans worth over 50,000 crore have been disbursed to women so far. In the past year alone, loans amounting to 10,000 crore were extended to aspiring women e...
