Revanth Reddy sets 2034 deadline to make one crore Telangana women millionaires

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday, 8 November, promised that his government would help one crore women become millionaires by 2034, with women’s self-help groups (SHGs) as the main route.

He was addressing SHG members at a programme held on his birthday, and thanked the women for attending in spite of the Deepavali festivities.

The numbers

Mr. Reddy said that nearly 70 lakh women are now members of SHGs in the State, and that the government wants membership to reach one crore by 2034. According to reports of the speech, he said SHGs had received bank-linked loans of about ₹79,000 crore in the 34 months his government has been in office, and that 4.5 lakh new pensions had been sanctioned, 3.5 lakh of them for single women and widows.

He said women’s empowerment was central to his government’s policies and promised more economic opportunities for group members.

The politics

The Chief Minister also turned on Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao, accusing him of not respecting the women in his own family. The BRS’s response was not available when this was written.

The background

Mr. Reddy first announced the goal of one crore women millionaires in March 2024, when he set a five-year horizon. Later statements have put the deadline at 2034. Earlier measures for SHGs include land for rice mills and warehouses and a plan for groups to own buses. The State government has not published figures showing how many members have so far reached the target income.