Odisha Pushes for Stronger Women-Led Urban Livelihoods Through Mission Shakti–NULM Convergence

Bhubaneswar: In a significant move to strengthen women-led urban livelihoods, the Housing & Urban Development Department today held a high-level meeting to accelerate convergence between Mission Shakti and the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM). The discussions, held at Kharavela Bhawan, followed the directives of Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida and Hon’ble H&UD Minister Dr. Krushna Chandra Mohapatra, signalling the State’s renewed focus on unified institutional support for women’s economic empowerment.

Chaired by Usha Padhee, Principal Secretary, H&UD, the meeting brought together key officials including Director Municipal Administration Arindam Dakua; Director Mission Shakti Dr. Monica Priyadarshini; Additional Secretary-cum-PD, SUDA Rabindra Sahu; Additional Secretary, Mission Shakti Abinash Rout; and senior officers from both departments.

Padhee emphasised that bringing Mission Shakti SHGs and NULM community structures onto a common platform would help create a more coordinated, responsive ecosystem for women entrepreneurs in urban areas. “Our aim is to expand women’s access to skills, markets, credit and enterprise opportunities. A seamless convergence will unlock sustainable, women-led economic growth across Odisha,” she said.

The discussions focused on integrating SHGs, ALFs and CLFs for unified planning, strengthening skilling and enterprise development frameworks, and improving market linkages through urban haats, branding initiatives, e-commerce platforms and government procurement. Enhancing financial inclusion and widening credit access for scaling up microenterprises also formed key points of deliberation.

With Mission Shakti SHGs positioned as pivotal partners in Odisha’s urban transformation, the departments agreed to roll out joint action plans in the coming weeks. The convergence roadmap is expected to provide a structured, streamlined support system that empowers women collectives to participate more strongly in the State’s urban economic landscape.