RISE Centre empowering women entrepreneurs in NTR dist

Vijayawada: NTR District Collector Dr G Lakshmisha has said that the Rural Incubation, Skilling and Entrepreneurship Centre (RISE) is playing a crucial role in transforming the ideas of women entrepreneurs into successful business ventures. He said the district administration is aiming with a goal of creating 5,000 women entrepreneurs in the district.

The Collector stated that the NTR district is the first in the State to establish a RISE Centre, under the aegis of NITI Aayog, under the Aspirational Block Programme (ABP), as part of the vision of “One Family–One Entrepreneur.” He inspected the RISE Centre set up at the Zilla Parishad High School premises in Guntupalli village of Ibrahimpatnam mandal on Saturday and interacted with women entrepreneurs undergoing training.

Addressing the media later, Dr Lakshmisha said the initiative is aimed at accelerating industrial growth, entrepreneurship, employment generation and innovation, in line with the vision of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

He said significant steps are being taken to promote women-led enterprises and improve per capita income in the district.

The Collector said that already over 1,000 women have been trained and developed as entrepreneurs, and efforts are underway to achieve the target of 5,000 women entrepreneurs.

He noted that NITI Aayog had sanctioned the RISE Centre to NTR district for the first time in the State, recognising its potential under the Aspirational Block framework.

Meanwhile, he said the centre is also offering handholding support to women by addressing challenges faced in entrepreneurship, facilitating bank linkage loans, promoting utilisation of government schemes and converting innovative ideas into viable business projects.

Both rural and urban SHGs are already running successful units and emerging as role models for aspiring women entrepreneurs, he added.

The Collector said the RISE Centre would play a key role in empowering women economically and achieving the objective of One Family–One Entrepreneur. He urged women to utilise the opportunity fully and grow as successful entrepreneurs.

Guntupalli sarpanch Bhukya Kavitha, RDO K Chaitanya, DRDA PD M Nanchara Rao, MEPMA PD Krishna Prasad, Horticulture Officer Balaji Kumar, Special Officer (Village/Ward Secretariats) P Jyothi, Skill Development Officer Srinivasa Rao, tahsildar Y Venkateswara Rao, MPDO D Shakunthala and women entrepreneurs participated in the programme.