India’s efforts to strengthen women-led entrepreneurship and accelerate rural economic transformation have entered a new phase with the launch of SHE-LEAPS, a digital platform aimed at empowering women associated with Self-Help Groups (SHGs) across the country.
Designed to support enterprise creation, livelihood development and financial inclusion, SHE-LEAPS seeks to provide a comprehensive digital ecosystem that enables rural women to build sustainable businesses while allowing governments to track and support their economic progress in real time.
The platform was launched on June 29, 2026, during the Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Sammelan held in New Delhi, marking a significant milestone in the government’s broader vision of creating a digitally empowered and economically self-reliant rural India.
Officials say the initiative is expected to strengthen women-led enterprises across both farm and non-farm sectors while playing a key role in advancing the ambitious Lakhpati Didi programme, one of the government’s flagship initiatives focused on increasing the income levels of rural women.
Digital push for rural women entrepreneurs
Women-led Self-Help Groups have emerged as one of the most successful grassroots development models in India over the past two decades.
Across villages and small towns, millions of women have come together through SHGs to save money, access credit, launch micro-enterprises and improve household incomes. These groups have become an important pillar of rural development by creating economic opportunities for women who often have limited access to formal financial systems and markets.
However, as the scale of these enterprises has expanded, there has been a growing need for digital systems capable of tracking business performance, monitoring income growth and improving access to institutional support.
SHE-LEAPS has been developed to address these challenges by providing a technology-driven platform that captures enterprise information, monitors progress and supports decision-making at multiple levels.
The initiative seeks to ensure that rural women entrepreneurs are not only able to establish businesses but also scale them sustainably over time.
What is SHE-LEAPS?
SHE-LEAPS stands for Self-Help Entrepreneur-Livelihoods and Enterprise Application for Prosperity and Sustainability.
The platform has been developed by the Digital India Corporation and is being implemented through the LokOS digital platform, which serves as the technological backbone for a range of rural development programmes.
The objective of SHE-LEAPS is to create a unified digital ecosystem that tracks the entire entrepreneurial journey of SHG women, from enterprise creation and business operations to income growth and long-term sustainability.
Officials describe the platform as a major step towards integrating digital governance with livelihood development, allowing both beneficiaries and policymakers to benefit from real-time data and transparent monitoring systems.
The initiative reflects the government’s growing emphasis on using technology to strengthen grassroots economic development while ensuring that the benefits of digital transformation reach rural communities.
Launched at Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Sammelan
The platform was unveiled during the Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Sammelan, a two-day national conference organised in New Delhi under the theme “Gramodaya Se Rashtrodaya”.
The event brought together policymakers, administrators, rural development experts and stakeholders from across the country to review the progress of major rural development programmes and discuss future strategies for achieving the vision of Viksit Gram–Viksit Bharat.
The launch of SHE-LEAPS was one of the key announcements during the conference and highlighted the government’s focus on combining digital technology with inclusive development.
Officials noted that women’s economic empowerment remains central to India’s rural transformation strategy and that digital tools will play an increasingly important role in supporting this objective.
Built on the foundation of LokOS
At the heart of the SHE-LEAPS initiative lies the LokOS platform, a digital ecosystem designed to digitise the functioning of community-based organisations operating under rural development programmes.
LokOS already serves as a comprehensive platform for managing information related to:
1. Self-Help Groups (SHGs)
2. Village Organisations (VOs)
3. Cluster Level Federations (CLFs)
4. Community institutions
5. Financial transactions
6. Livelihood activities
7. Convergence initiatives
The platform captures extensive data related to members, savings, loans, financial records and developmental activities, creating a digital repository that supports governance and programme implementation.
By leveraging this existing digital infrastructure, SHE-LEAPS has been able to build a specialised enterprise-management system focused specifically on entrepreneurship and livelihood generation.
Officials say this integration reduces duplication, improves efficiency and enables seamless tracking of enterprise-related information.
Tracking entire enterprise journey
One of the most significant features of SHE-LEAPS is its ability to monitor the complete lifecycle of rural enterprises.
The platform enables users to:
1. Create enterprise profiles
2. Register business activities
3. Record operational details
4. Track production and sales
5. Monitor income generation
6. Assess business performance
7. Measure enterprise growth
By digitising these processes, SHE-LEAPS creates a structured record of each entrepreneur’s journey, enabling better planning and support.
For policymakers and programme managers, this data provides valuable insights into the health and performance of rural enterprises across different regions and sectors.
The platform also helps identify challenges faced by entrepreneurs and enables targeted interventions to improve outcomes.
Officials believe that such real-time monitoring can significantly improve programme effectiveness by allowing authorities to respond more quickly to emerging needs.
Covering farm and non-farm enterprises
Unlike many livelihood programmes that focus on a single sector, SHE-LEAPS has been designed to support both farm-based and non-farm enterprises.
This broad coverage reflects the diverse nature of rural entrepreneurship in India.
Farm-based enterprises may include: Dairy production, poultry farming, fisheries, organic farming, food processing, horticulture.
Non-farm enterprises may include: Handicrafts, tailoring, rural retail businesses, beauty and wellness services, food enterprises, digital services, manufacturing activities.
By accommodating multiple sectors, the platform aims to support the varied livelihood aspirations of rural women and encourage entrepreneurship beyond traditional occupations.
The approach aligns with the government’s objective of diversifying rural incomes and creating new economic opportunities at the grassroots level.
Nationwide rollout across India
The government has planned a nationwide rollout of SHE-LEAPS covering all 34 States and Union Territories.
The platform will support State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs), which play a key role in implementing livelihood and women empowerment programmes at the state level.
Through this expansion, authorities aim to create a unified national database of women-led enterprises operating under various rural development schemes.
The availability of real-time data is expected to improve coordination between local, state and national authorities.
Officials believe that better visibility into enterprise performance will help governments identify successful models, allocate resources more effectively and strengthen programme implementation.
The nationwide rollout is also expected to create greater consistency in monitoring and reporting standards across different states.
Strengthening the Lakhpati Didi Mission
A major focus of SHE-LEAPS is supporting the government’s flagship Lakhpati Didi Mission.
The initiative aims to help rural women increase their annual incomes through entrepreneurship and livelihood development.
Under the programme, women are encouraged to adopt sustainable income-generating activities and build enterprises capable of delivering long-term economic benefits.
SHE-LEAPS will serve as an important monitoring tool for tracking the progress of beneficiaries.
The platform will provide end-to-end visibility into:
Enterprise performance
Income generation
Business expansion
Financial growth
Progress towards income targets
Officials say the digital tracking system will make it easier to evaluate programme outcomes and identify areas where additional support may be required.
The initiative is expected to improve accountability while ensuring that beneficiaries receive timely guidance and assistance.
Govt expands ambition for women’s economic empowerment
The launch of SHE-LEAPS comes at a time when the government is significantly expanding its ambitions for women-led economic development.
Recognising the success of the Lakhpati Didi initiative, the government has increased its target from three crore women to six crore women.
This expansion reflects a broader policy commitment to making women central participants in India’s economic growth story.
In addition, the government has announced plans to release Rs 10 lakh crore over the next five years to support women associated with the Lakhpati Didi programme.
The proposed investment is expected to support:
Enterprise development
Livelihood generation
Capacity building
Skill enhancement
Access to finance
Business expansion
Within this framework, SHE-LEAPS is expected to become a critical digital tool for monitoring outcomes and ensuring effective implementation.
Data-driven governance for rural development
Another important aspect of SHE-LEAPS is its contribution to data-driven governance.
The platform creates a continuous flow of information from the grassroots level to policymakers, enabling evidence-based decision-making.
By collecting enterprise-level data in real time, authorities can gain a clearer understanding of:
Rural economic trends
Sector-specific opportunities
Income patterns
Enterprise performance
Regional disparities
Such insights can help governments design more effective interventions and improve resource allocation.
Officials believe that digital platforms like SHE-LEAPS will increasingly shape the future of rural development by enabling smarter governance and better monitoring mechanisms.
Rural digital transformation
The launch of SHE-LEAPS represents more than just the introduction of a new digital platform. It reflects a broader shift towards integrating technology, entrepreneurship and financial inclusion as key drivers of rural development.
By creating a unified ecosystem for enterprise management, monitoring and growth, the platform seeks to provide women entrepreneurs with the tools needed to build resilient and sustainable businesses.
At the same time, it offers governments a powerful mechanism for tracking outcomes, improving programme delivery and ensuring that investments translate into measurable improvements in livelihoods.
As the platform expands across the country, it is expected to play a central role in strengthening women-led enterprises, advancing the Lakhpati Didi mission and accelerating the vision of a digitally empowered rural economy. With millions of women increasingly participating in economic activities through Self-Help Groups, SHE-LEAPS could become a key catalyst in India’s journey towards inclusive growth, grassroots entrepreneurship and sustainable rural prosperity.
